2024-07-14 10:55:07
The KoresponDance international festival started this Thursday at Republic Square in Žďár nad Sázavou. In the early evening, several hundred people watched the Japanese drummer Mihoko Umemura alias Ume with the group Wadaiko YosaYosa, the Slovak acrobat Roman Škadra or the Spanish group Hurycan. The festival of dance, movement theater and new circus will last until Sunday.
When the 2013 event in Žďár nad Sázavou began, it was incomprehensible to many. The locals had a hard time imagining what contemporary dance could mean, admits festival director Marie Kinsky. “Thanks to the fact that our community is open to new experiences, we managed to bring the dance to wider awareness. We are happy that KoresponDance attracts people from the region, that they come to it and that we can meet here,” he acknowledges.
“It’s a joy to see how all social classes and generations connect, discuss and have fun. I’m convinced that dance is accessible to absolutely everyone and everyone perceives it through their lens, putting their own experiences into it,” adds Marie Kinsky.
From Friday, the KoresponDance festival continues in the grounds of the Židár castle. It will include 24 performances, one concert and 16 workshops. Creators from 11 countries will perform. “The Czech mark on the program will be left by Martin Říčan, a native of Žďár and a young creator who was part of the KoresponDance team and other artists’ projects for several years. This year, for the first time, he will present his own multi-genre project Panta Rhei, which was created specifically for the festival,” adds Michaela Sikorová for the organizer.
Performances are repeated several times at different times so that more viewers can see them. Říčan’s work, which combines the baroque line of the castle with dance, music and film, will premiere on Friday evening.
The festival is organized by the Center for Choreographic Development SE.S.TA. This year, for the first time, he set off from Žďár nad Sázavou and Prague, where the first part of the program took place, also to Nové Město na Morava.