Peter Šavel & collective: WHAT THE FOLK

We live in a time of tension and division. Is there something we all share? Something that connects us? Movement. I’m waiting at a bus stop or at the doctor’s, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. One step this way, one step that way, and a rhythm emerges. A dance. Something human… something folk?

WHAT THE FOLK — what is folk, anyway? We want to explore with you how dance comes into being. How it grows out of the connections between us, from the simplest steps and our natural desire to move. And how it gradually transforms, becoming richer and bolder. What could our folk dance look like today? Should it be folk, modern, contemporary, or simply human? Maybe all these forms are closer to one another than we think. Join us in this playful exploration.

And what if dance isn’t so easy to understand? No worries! Just open your heart and let the rhythm guide you. The joy of moving and creating something together can gradually bring us closer, shape us, and delight us.

Become a part of the performance

Would you like to get involved in the performance in a way other than simply watching from the auditorium? Participants attending the WHAT A DANCE workshop can also sign up to be ‘secret guests’ at the WHAT THE FOLK performance. To be eligible, you must make a binding commitment to take part, remain in the workshop until the final ten minutes, and arrive an hour and a half before the performance begins.

Concept: Soňa Ferienčíková

Choreography: Peter Šavel

Created and performed by: Soňa Ferienčíková, Martina Hajdyla Lacová, Daniel Raček, Andrej Štepita

Music: Gašper Piano

Supervision: Karolína Hejnová

Lighting design and technology: Ints Plavnieks

Costume design: Andrea Pojezdálová

Voice cooperation: Ivanka Mer

Folk movement cooperation: Peter Hrabovský

Production: Barbora Sihelská / BOD.Y, Adéla Lipavská / ME-SA, Karolína Hejnová / Ceren Oran & Moving Borders

PR: Barbora Sihelská / BOD.Y

Administration: Zuzana Frištiková

Produced by: BOD.Y civic association (SK) and ME-SA Platform for Contemporary Dance (CZ)

Co-produced by: Bratislava in Motion Association; Ceren Oran & Moving Borders, GbR; Goethe-Institut (International Co-production Fund); Johan, a registered institution; Tanečno, a civic association

Residencies: Štúdio Tanca Theatre, CO.LABS Cultural Centre, Moving Station Plzeň, Tanztendenz München, Telocvičňa – Dance Residency Center

Financial support provided by: the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, State Cultural Fund of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague, and the City of Brno, the International Visegrad Fund; the International Coproduction Fund of the Goethe-Institut; the Bratislava City Foundation (Capital of the Slovak Republic); the Czech-German Future Fund, the Tatra Banka Foundation