The art of Shaolin Monks with live music
The highlight of this year’s festival is Sutra, a performance realized by the Flemish choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in production with London’s theatre Sadler's Wells along with seventeen young Buddhist monks from the original Shaolin temple in the Chinese province of Henan. The choreographer himself had lived with the monks for several months, he worked with them and at the same time tried to develop his life-long interest in philosophy and belief that lies behind the Shaolin traditions.
“Sutra is a treat for lovers of acrobatics and martial arts as well as for demanding audiences of contemporary dance. What is more, Prague will be one of the last stops of the project’s world tour,” says Yvona Kreuzmannová, the head of the festival. The performance is accompanied with original live music and at its premiere in London received immense admiration from the public. Tanec Praha will stage the performance three times – from June 25th to 27th in Karlin Music Theatre.
The beginning and the end of the festival
The festival will open on 6th June in Ponec Theatre by the well-known Danish group Granhøj Dans. On 8th and 9th June, spectators will have the opportunity to see the Czech premiere of the most recent performance by RootlessRoot Company, Greek-Slovakian choreographers and former members of the Belgium ensemble Ultima Vez. The festival will come to an end on Wednesday 29th June in Karlin Music Theatre with the British artist Akram Khan and his ensemble presenting their most recent choreography entitled Vertical Road inspired by the mystical tradition of Sufism.
Other performers that will appear at the festival include Louise Lecavalier, an icon of contemporary Canadian dance and a former star of the ensemble La La La Human Steps, ensembles Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM from Germany, Compagnia Zappalà Danza from Italy and others. Young European scene (Hungary, Spain, Italy, Germany) including the Czech one will present themselves in the European Dance Laboratories, following the recommendation of the international jury Aerowves, after they have watched nearly 600 projects which applied for a place at the festival. The festival will also offer children’s performances, workshops, an exhibition and even a dance cycle-performance.
Tickets are available at Ponec theatre, Karlín Music Theatre and New Scene of the National Theatre. For more information visit www.tanecpraha.cz .
