ME-SA: Don’t Stop the Dance – about pregnancy, dance and motherhood

Body, dance, and motherhood – three movements of one story.

An evening dedicated to dancers who did not stop dancing even during pregnancy, exploring the themes of the transformation of the female body and the influence of motherhood on an artistic career. It is inspired by Martina Hajdyla Lacová's solo for two bodies, Bodies in Progress, which was created during her third pregnancy – as a work that developed together with the child in her body and later with the child as an independent being. The production highlighted the miracle and difficulty of the moment when one body becomes two, and allowed Martina and other artists to reflect on the fragility of a dance career and the difficult decisions that come with balancing professional and personal life.

The evening includes an original reinterpretation of the solo Bodies in Progress, a discussion with prominent artists about the experience of pregnancy and motherhood, sharing approaches to postpartum body care, and the premiere of a film essay by Jana Bučka Kovalčíková and Michal Fulier. The film captures the creation of an expanded version of Martina Hajdyla Lacová's solo with ten pregnant dancers and performers in the spring of 2025 – 11 performers, 11 feelings, 11 thoughts.

The evening will be hosted by Maja Hriešik, a dramaturge, theorist, and cultural worker currently based in Slovakia. She collaborates creatively with a number of artistic collectives and organizations in the Czech Republic. In addition to dance dramaturgy, which she also teaches, she is interested in methods of self-organization in dance, overall working conditions, and the influence of the systemic environment on creativity, as well as a more dignified and fulfilling existence for dancers.

Concept: Martina Hajdyla Lacová, Maja Hriešik

Dramaturgy and moderation: Maja Hriešik

Choreography: Martina Hajdyla Lacová

Music: Alexandra Cihanská Machová

Performance: Sabina Bočková, Jazmína Piktorová, and others

Dance film essay

Director: Jana Bučka Kovalčíková

Camera: Michal Fulier

Cast: Karolína Maštalířová, Tereza Svobodová, Claire F. Crescini, Michaela Stará, Lenka Gregarová, Dana Pala, Anežka Kalivodová, Narumi Saso, Ivana Atanasova, Zuzana Sceranková, Martina Hajdyla Lacová.

Guests of the debate: Nikola Márová – former principal dancer of the National Theatre in Prague and mother of a teenage son; Sabina Bočková – dancer and choreographer in advanced pregnancy; Veronika Tőkőly - dancer collaborating with leading Czech ensembles 420PEOPLE and Burkicom and mother of a young preschooler; Martina Hajdyla Lacová – dancer, choreographer, and mother of three children; Alexandra Cihanská Machová – composer, sound artist, and mother of three children.

With the financial support of: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague City Hall, Czech State Culture Fund

Coproducer: DanceConnected, z.s.

Don’t Stop the Dance

3:00 p.m. Don’t Stop the Dance – Return to the Body / Workshop

5:30 p.m. Don’t Stop the Dance – On Pregnancy, Dance, and Motherhood

Cover photo: Michaela Škvrňáková

Photos from the project: Arnaud Beelen, Terezie Foitová, Kamil Hauptmann, Michaela Škvrňáková