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Tour of the Winners – Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2015

(Press release)

Nina Vangeli

The international summer tour of the winners of the choreographic competition – Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2015 culminated in a concert that took place in the Archa theatre in the end of September. The tour went through the Central European countries from which most young choreographers competing for the Jarmila Jeřábková Award hail. The winners performed in Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. The tour was composed of the winners‘ new choreographic works created thanks to the monetary rewards given together with the prize – in accordance with the rules of the competition. The Jarmila Jeřábková Award thus motivates the creativity of beginning choreographers and supports the introduction of their work to the public. This year, the project was presented in the international context for the first time.

The choreographers who presented their work – and personally participated in their performance as well – during the celebratory evening in the Archa theatre were Inga Mikshina, Roman Zotov, and Pavla Vařáková. The audience, which filled every seat in the theatre, welcomed the show warmly, and justly so. The choreographies of conservatory graduates, in two cases fairly fresh graduates, were self-assured in their perspectives, emotionally engaging, and performed in the contemporary dance feeling.

Inga Mikshina, native of Siberia, completed her studies at the Duncan Centre Conservatory last year. In the Archa theatre she presented her work titled Hannah Harriet Chaplin cca 1925. The choreography dives deep into the internal world of memories and fixed ideas of Charles Chaplin’s mother as her son described her in his autobiography. The gradual blurring of the title character’s mind is the central motif of the piece. The audience of the winners’concert saw the second version of the choreography. – The first version, presented during the competition, involved more characters, which gave it more complexity and brought distinguishable personalities. While it did not involve any narrative techniques foreign to dance, it introduced the audience to a comprehensible situation that provided a basis for a clear and organic emergence of individual dance performances, including some bizarre, atmospheric and intuitive ones, as well as of their intense emotionality. In addition to dance, theatrical actorish expresiveness was employed. In its entirety, the choreography was a vibrant picture painted with a delicate sensitive brush. – The current version presented in the Archa theatre was reduced to three female dancers, perhaps Hannah Harriet Chaplin multiplied, and in a non-figurative way it expressed the essence of a woman’s soul unstoppably drowning in itself.

It brought a hypersensitive performance of three charismatic dancers – choreographer Inga Mikshina herself, Johana Pocková, and Kristýna Šajtošová. It was a dance of the tripled soul of Hannah Harriet. The three dancers‘ simple and elegant long dresses served as a non-intrusive hint to a bygone era. The dance was melancholic, hypersensitive, truthful in its expression, and refined. – On the other hand, the new, more abstract version lacked the subtle emotional claws, the tiny hooks, the fragments of reality that would get under the viewers‘ skin and go beyond a purely aesthetic experience, to a fatal, tragic sensation. The dancers‘ melancholy in itself is not enough, the sadness should affect the audience.

If we regard this choreography as part of the physical theatre trend that is currently prevalent in the “Prague school of dance,“ it is the soft sort, a piece of gentle, shy and sisterly touches, a yin piece.

Roman Zotov, now working under the label of A+1 Company (which also includes dancer and co-creator Ivan Volkov), too introduced a new version of his original choreography Alisa Vasanta that was first presented at the competition. This piece could also be called physical theatre, but, in contrast to the choreography described above, it was an immensely expressive yang type of theatre, not only because its authors and performers were men. It was mostly because, similarly to the original version, it showed “a distressful physical theatre consisting of a series of harrowing dreams. Absurd, slightly naturalistic, a little ‚ready-made‘.“ The new work continues in the discovered style and develops it further. – The masculine presence, literally the masculine corporality, is of key importance here. The two young topless men keep their dance “low,“ close to the floor for a long time. In a way it is quite challenging to observe an exposed, if only half-naked male body. It is disturbingly intimate. We are still not accustomed to the look. The past millenia of our culture have led us to observe female bodies; to see a nude man remains somehow inappropriate. Likewise, the physical touch of two male bodies seems much more physical than the sisterly intimacy of female dancers. And as if the two men themselves, disrobed (and, one may guess, sweaty), did not feel comfortable in their own bodies, they search on the floor, and later through the entire space, for new shapes and body positions, new possibilities of a more appropriate, more easeful, less painful physical existence. Or, it seems at times, on the contrary, more painful. Beauty steps aside, showmanship steps aside, any concern for ladies in the audience steps aside. These are not some simple asanas, the dancers cruise through the space like earth-bound whirlers, they shake the space out like an old bed sheet. – Both dancers have provided an interesting and challenging definition of a man.

Choreographer Pavla Vařáková from the EKS group presented her piece titled She featuring Kateřina Blažková, Zdena Hüttlová and the choreographer herself. As the title of the choreography suggests, it focuses on a woman’s uncertainty in the face of the society’s uneasy rules. A sort of sensitive abstraction prevailed in the style of the dance. Therefore the sophisticated dance expression could not capture or specify the overly general “female“ theme, nor could it, one would assume, answer the complex answers about a woman’s place in today’s society, about the prejudices she faces, about her internal struggle with what is commonly understood as reality – which was the choreographer’s ambition. The hint of prop comedy (some sort of play with a small chair) did not cast a particularly bright light on the matter. What remained was a very sensitive dance performed by three interconnected dancers.

New Europe Festival
and Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2015

Press Release

The 20th – 22nd November saw the 14th year of the choreographic competition of young and up-and-coming choreographers from Central and East Europe, founded by Ms Eva Blažíčková, a renowned figure of the Czech dance scene, and named after her teacher and a great personality of the Czech modern dance, Jarmila Jeřábková.

The opening ceremony took place in the NoD, a well-known alternative venue in Prague, and featured The Trial by one of the earlier laureates of the award Dora Sulženko Hoštová. The two subsequent evenings introduced contestants from Greece, Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. As per tradition, these performances took place in the theatre hall of the Duncan Centre Conservatory. The closing gala of this year’s winners will begin tonight at 8 p.m. in the Disk theatre.

Ivana Loudová is the composer personality of this year’s competition. A dance interpretation of one of her compositions is a mandatory category of the contest, along with a routine of the contestant’s own choosing.

Together with the contest’s founder Eva Blažíčková, the following judges form the international jury: Nina Vangeli, dance writer based in Prague, Márta Ladjánszki, Hungarian independent dancer and choreographer, Jan Minařík, former dancer of the famous Tanztheater Wuppertal, Milan Zvada, curator of the Independent Culture Centre in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, and Pawel Korbus from Poland.

The previous years saw success and awards going often to contestants from Hungary and also from Greece. This year belongs to choreographers of Russian and Czech descent. The first prize went to Inga Mikshina for her solo works, So Easy put to Ivana Loudová’s music, Prague Imaginations – Mysterious Buildings in the Old Town, and the free choreography of At Dawn. Inga’s work does not follow trends; the young choreographer listens to her body and to its genetic memory, she captures the mood in the climate of the time of the day, the climate of the body. Her dance shows the body’s responses to the subtlest tremors of the soul. Her dance also includes modest traces of the body memory – the physical, gestic and dance ways and customs of its tribe. And the sensation of beauty in movement, both in a new and traditional sense of the term, encompassed the entire work as its leitmotif.

The second place was shared by Roman Zotov from Russia, taking into account primarily his choreography of The Shores using Ivana Loudová’s Nocturne for Viola and Strings and Sinfonia numerica per orchestra da camera, and by Czechs Pavla Vařáková and Ondřej Krejčí of the EKS group for their elective choreography of L/Edge.

Roman Zotov presented a surprisingly complex and richly intricate duet, an image of a pair of brothers, based on childhood memories and grotesquely dissolving in the running waters of reminiscence. It was an upsetting physical theatre composed of images from tormenting dreams. An absurd, slightly naturalistic choreography with every detail thought out.

The EKS group performed a dynamic duet in close cooperation with live musicians on the stage. Their appeal was mainly in their original dance language and its precise articulation. The masterfully performed duet was based on sharp contrasts, numerous bizarre plunges, surprise rescues from these collapses, and a quizzically fractional style of intimate encounters. With all its bizarreness and constant breaks, it was elegant and carefully drawn into the space with great precision.

The abovementioned winning choreographies will be performed in the Disk theatre tonight at 8 PM, after Kapr Quartet’s concert of Ivana Loudová’s music and the award-giving ceremony.

Final Report 2013/2014

Following the biennial New Europe Festival (an event that supports mostly young choreographers at the outset of their career coming from the 'new', 'other', Central-Eastern, post-totalitarian Europe), which awards the Jarmila Jeřábková Award, an international tour of the winners took place, visiting Banská Bystrica, Budapest, and Prague. The tour brought together Hungarian, Slovak, and Czech partners active in the area of independent dance, namely the founding civic association Cena Jarmily Jeřábkové (Jarmila Jeřábková Award), the highly active cultural centre Záhrada from Banská Bystrica, and the independent, Hungarian creative laboratory L1. A similar tour of the winners will from now on take place regularly between two competition years. Thanks to the tour, the first prize winner, Eszter Herold and Marketa Kuttnerová have gained the invitation to present her three new choreographies (which she had prepared for the Festival) in the renowned Pina Bausch theatre in Wuppertal.

Our Polish partners were not able to participate in this year's Festival, nevertheless, negotiations are already on the way to secure their participation in the 2015 event.

Description of participation of “Visegrad partners” at the project

The decision to organize the New Europe Festival alongside with the award of the Jarmila Jeřábková Award as a biennial event, while linking it to activities of partners from the other Visegrad 4 countries has proven a positive one for a number of reasons:

• Within a one-year break it is possible to find a larger choice of good-quality competition entries.
• The Visegrad partners are permanent jury members, who co-decide on the choice of finalists, as well as on the winners. Evaluation analyses represent an excellent opportunity for discussions and allow one's opinions to crystallize.
• The tour organized in partner countries in the year following the competition was a success. It gave young artists – winners the opportunity to present their work abroad.
• The official programme is usually complemented by other activities in cooperation with local actors (e.g. performance of the students from Banská Bystrica conservatory, and the performance of Dora Hoštová – the Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2008 laureate – in Prague, etc.).
• The partners from Visegrad 4 countries contribute their expert know-how in the matters of organisation, and they also become natural promoters of the New Europe Festival.

Description of media coverage

• Press conference in Prague following the end of the competition.
• Hungarian radio interview with the Hungarian member of the jury and partner of the festival, Marta Ladjanski.
• A number of accompanying events – screenings, workshops, a performance of the Banská Bystrica conservatory, debates and analyses in which not only the competitors, but also the participating musicians, as well as the official composer of the year 2013, Mr. Lukáš Matoušek, participate.
• Invitation of Eszter Herold, and Markéta Kutnarová the winners of the Jarmila Jeřábková Award to perform in the theatre in German Wuppertal.

NEW EUROPE FESTIVAL 2010
JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD
12th year of the competition, 4th year of the festival
Final press release

The choreographic competition for young artists from Central and Eastern Europe saw its twelfth year from 25 November till 29 November 2010. In the recent years its final evening is held as a festival open to public. The competition is characteristic with a focus on classical music. One of the two compulsory choreographies must be set to music by a Czech modern composer. The name of the composer for the next year is announced at the closing ceremony of the competition. In the past competitors worked with the music of Bohuslav Martinů, Miloslav Kabeláč, Petr Eben, Marek Kopelent, Kryštof Mařatka and Martin Smolka. In 2010 the compulsory composer was Jiří Teml.

During the twelve years young choreographers from the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Latvia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey took part in the competition. This year the finalists included artists from Greece, Poland/Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The members of the international jury were: the founder of the competition Mrs Eva Blažíčková, the dance publicist Nina Vangeli, John Ashford from Great Britain, who is connected with the London dance theatre The Place and the Aerowaves competition, Jan Minařík, former member of Pina Bausch´s Tanztheater Wuppertal and Michel Vincenot, director of Scene conventionnée Dance, Pau, France.

The opening night of the New Europe Festival featured last year´s and the last but one year´s winners Kateřina Stupecká with her work Sunyata – The Fertile Emptiness, a descent through twilight and magical flashes of light into the depth of the unconscious, and Zoltán Grecsó, who in his trio Desire to Live created a portrait of his father in which he mixed original solo variations with slow-motion obsessive bits of reality, dreamy or humorously absurd. Both choreographers asserted their past success in the competition and proved that they have moved forward towards artistic maturity.

The unassailable winner of this year´s competition was Iris Karayan from Greece. She performed her work Leg acy, a breathtaking solo set to the music by Jiří Teml Concerto per clavicembalo ed orchestra da camera – Drammatico. She used an original dance vocabulary which as if changed the anatomy of the dancer. She was moving like an unhinged Picasso picture, which has by mistake descended from the wall. The surprising play of body tension, the surprising rhythms react to the impulses of Teml´s music but create an autonomous dance statement leading into rapid turns and spirals. The work did not lack humour and entranced the viewers. The dancer brings about memories of Nizinsky and the early Marie Chouinard. Iris Karayan´s free work was called A time to mourn – an animal duet of two lionesses shaking their manes, an immersion into the deepest layers of human memory, when the consciousness was being born tossing about with wild instincts. No other prize was awarded.

Like every year the Festival was closed with a concert of music by the composer of the year and the performance of the winners. Apart from Iris Karayan, a chance to perform was given to the DC student Anežka Stráníková who performed her choreography to Teml´s Hommage a Michelangelo – Searching for Form called An Encounter with Michelangelo.

New Europe Festival
Duncan Centre Theatre
Branická 41, 147 00 – Praha 4
www.cjj.ecn.cz

Honza Malík
honza.malik@seznam.cz
Gsm: 732 271 309

Marta Adamová
produkcedc@duncanct.cz
T.: 244461810

The project is supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague Municipality, International Visegrad Fund, Greek Embassy, Slovak Institute in Prague, Život umělce Foundation, Czech Centre Prague, MĚSTSKÁ ČÁST PRAHA 4.

Partners: Orkesztika Foundation, Asociácia súčasného tanca, Śląski Teatr Tańca

Media partners: A2 kulturní čtrnáctideník, Nový prostor, Hudební Rozhledy, Taneční Zóna, Metropolis, magazín Salto /sk/, časopis Vlna /sk/ Bio Oko, Aerofilms s.r.o. a kino Světozor, Radio Etno, ČRo 3 – Vltava, tanecniaktuality.cz, Pragoplakát s.r.o.

Press release
NEW EUROPE FESTIVAL 2009
AND
JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD

From 3 to 7 December 2009 at Duncan Centre Conservatory the 11th year of the international choreographic competition of original dance works Jarmila Jeřábková Award and the New Europe Festival were held.

The pieces by all finalists are accessible to the public. The Award goes to young artists up to the age of thirty-five who come from „New“ i.e. Central and Eastern Europe. It is meant to support the development of modern dance identity. The contestants enter two pieces - a free work and a choreography to the music of a contemporary Czech composer. It is the speciality of the event that it supports Czech contemporary music. The competition was founded by the important figure of Czech dance, Mrs Eva Blažíčková. She is the one to select the composer of the year. In 2009 it was Martin Smolka.

Young artists from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey took part in the finale of this year’s competition. The international jury consisting of Nina Vangeli (chairperson), Eva Blažíčková, John Ashford (GB), Michel Vincenot (F) and Toméo Verges (Sp) did not award the third prize. Both the first and second prize go to Hungary. The first prize was awarded to Zoltán Grecsó, for his duet Conversation Full of Salt to the first movement of Smolka´s Oh, my Admired C Minor and his free solo choreography called Bachelor Day. The jury admired the connection with the music and the ability to transform its dynamic incitements to physical tectonics in a sensitive duo work. It also appreciated the mature and exact dance expression in the solo piece, as well as its humour and communicativeness.

The second prize was awarded to Ágnes Fülöp for Instant to Smolka´s Zvonění and for the free choreography Angelwing…that was. The jury valued the original reaction of the author to music, which she metaphorically expressed by drawing ornaments in sand or threw it in the air, and these movements corresponded with the second dancer on stage. The solo featured a clear and fragile dance movements expressing the nostalgia for the lost angel wings. All four pieces were performed during the closing gala evening. Along with the tradition of the competition, the evening also featured the concert of compositions by Martin Smolka.

At the end of the festival the composer of the following year Jiří Teml was announced. The following year of the New Europe Festival and Jarmila Jeřábková Award will take place from 25 to 29 November 2010.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The competition, founded in 1999 by Eva Blažíčková, is organized by the Jarmila Jeřábková Award Association and Duncan Centre Conservatory, Prague. It is aimed at contemporary dance and dance theatre choreographers up to the age of 35 coming from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The opening year was designed for Czech and Slovak artists with more countries attending every following year. In 2000 Hungary joined in, in 2001 Poland, in 2002 Slovenia, the Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) took part in the event in 2003, in 2004 Bulgaria and in 2005 Rumania. In 2005 the sixth year of the competition fulfilled the idea of a competition for the „New“ Europe. Choreographers and dancers from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Armenia, Rumania and Turkey. In 2007 competitors came from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Cyprus, Greece and Rumania.

Since 2007 the Jarmila Jeřábková Award has been extended with the New Europe Festival, which presents performances of the best works from „New Europe“.

By adding the festival to the competition the quality of competing pieces has grown because they are subject to pre-selection. The selected pieces are performed with full lights and stage design. In the 2007 it was one of the most successful years and it fulfilled the founder’s idea of provoking young choreographers from „New Europe“.

THE PHILOSOPHY AND AIM OF THE PROJECT

The idea of restricting the compulsory part to Czech contemporary music of the second half of the 20th century is an inspiring impulse for choreographers as well as the composers themselves. This assignment enables the jury to assess the choreographers´ ability to face difficult contemporary music. As an important phenomenon of popularization of contemporary Czech music abroad Jarmila Jeřábková Award is highly valued by specialists. In the past years choreographies made to the music by Bohuslav Martinů, Miloslav Kabeláč, Petr Eben, Otmar Mácha, Marek Kopelent, Jan Hanuš, Sylvie Bodorová, Jan Novák and Luboš Fišer caught the attention of both the international jury and the public with inventiveness and a high level of the choreographers´ musicality. The system of prizes is a good opportunity and impulse for talented young choreographers to work on new projects which are then shown for the first time the following year.

The choreographic competition Jarmila Jeřábková Award has been becoming a natural Central European exchange of artistic experiences and creative ideas of young choreographers and dancers from the field of contemporary dance and dance theatre and is an inspiration not only to them but also to the public.

The New Europe Festival offers the public an opportunity of learning about the artistic trends in Eastern Europe and it offers the artists a possibility of prestigious performance in front of Prague audiences

PROGRAMME OF NEW EUROPE FESTIVAL 2009

CONTACT

Produkční odd.
Konzervatoř Duncan centre
Branická 41
147 00 Praha 4
Česká Republika

Tel: +420 244 461 342

produkcedc@duncanct.cz, www.cjj.ecn.cz

Supported by:


Media Partners:

New Europe Festival 2008 and Jarmila Jeřábková Award
Press release

At the Duncan Centre Theatre in Prague the 10th year of the choreographic competition Jarmila Jeřábková Award took place. In recent years the competition is held within the framework of the New Europe Festival. New Europe means the central and Eastern European territory where young choreographers up to the age of 35 come from to present themselves to the public, to compete for the award and to meet each other. In 2008 the festival featured works by artists from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Greece and Turkey.

At the Duncan Centre Theatre in Prague the 10th year of the choreographic competition Jarmila Jeřábková Award took place. In recent years the competition is held within the framework of the New Europe Festival. New Europe means the central and Eastern European territory where young choreographers up to the age of 35 come from to present themselves to the public, to compete for the award and to meet each other. In 2008 the festival featured works by artists from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Greece and Turkey.

The competition as well as the festival was established by Eva Blažíčková, the directress of Duncan Centre and the pupil of the representative of Czech pre-war contemporary dance, Jarmila Jeřábková. Eva Blažíčková especially concentrates on supporting the musicality of dance expression. The competition has a special feature - the obligatory part choreographed on a piece by a Czech contemporary composer. In 2008 Kryštof Mařatka, a young Czech composer, successfully working in Paris, was the "obligatory" composer.

The festival was opened by a gala evening which presented new choreographies by last year's winners. The duo Lang by Katarina Papageorgiou with an unusual eely movement, as if coming from an unknown dimension, remained the most original piece of the whole festival.

The international jury, among whose five members was John Ashford from the legendary London dance theatre The Place, awarded two second prizes ex equo. The first and third prizes were not awarded.

One of the prizes was awarded to Maria Koliopoulou (Greece) for her obligatory piece Action 3 on Exaltum and Fables by Kryštof Mařatka, and her free choreography Action 1.3. with the sound design by Yannis Isidorou. Maria Koliopoulou is a mature, consequential conceptual choreographer and dancer of great stage presence. Her work is elegant in terms of visual art and shows awareness of contemporary trends.

The other second prize was awarded to Kateřina Stupecká (Czech Republic), who presented her solo Da Capo on Mařatka's Astrophonia and her trio Al Fin on Arvo Pärt's music. Kateřina Stupecká is an excellent dancer emanating energy. In a complicated and exact way she answers the challenges of music and space.

Both winners performed at the closing gala concert where the music trio ArteMiss performed Mařatka's pieces and the composer himself improvised on the piano with Dora Hoštová, one of the promising Czech choreographers, was his dance and improvisation partner.

Jarmila Jeřábková Award / New Europe Festival 2007
Report of the project realization

The year 2007 of the Jarmila Jeřábková Award was one of the most successful and it fulfilled the idea of its founder to provoke co-operation of young choreographers from “new Europe”. The New Europe Festival took place at the Duncan Centre Theatre introducing 16 choreographies by young artists from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Greece. Two evenings were devoted to the public presentation of the final round of the competition Jarmila Jeřábková Award. During the opening evening, which preceded the competition, last year’s winners performed their new works. Among them were Márta Ladzjánszki and her choreography Flame, Dora Hoštová and her Bio-Graf and Dagmar Chaloupková with “X”.

Participants in the competition for Jarmila Jeřábková Award are obliged to make two pieces – a free composition and a choreography on music of a set composer, one of the Czech modern artists. This year it was Luboš Fišer. Jarmila Jeřábková Award winner this year are Klára Alexová, Czech Republic, for her duet Hidden Rooms (together with Tereza Lenerová) and a solo piece K13OMNATA. The international jury appreciated her ability to create a tense atmosphere, the sensuousness of her expression and the overall dance-theatrical conception. The second prize was awarded to Katarina Papageorgiou, Greece, for her solo Ostia and a duet Noose. It was a mature interpretation and choreography, especially in the work on Luboš Fišer’s music (15 prints after Dürer’s Apocalypse) where her movements anticipated the dramatic attacks of music creating thus situations full of tension. Milena Ugren Koulas, Cyprus, was awarded the third prize for her piece While walking. She presented herself as a new Bacchante, possessed as well as having her body under control. The evening of the award ceremony was enriched – as usual – by an exclusive concert of Luboš Fišer’s music performed by the violinist Ivan Štraus, Miroslav Sekera on the piano and the Zemlinsky Quartet.

The young choreographers´ interest in Jarmila Jeřábková Award has again increased especially because the competition was enlarged to Jarmila Jeřábková Award – New Europe Festival and also because of the compulsory part of the competition, where choreographers take inspiration from Czech composers of the 20th century and present their pieces in front of an audience.

JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD 2006
International choreographic competition for original dance works

Report of the project
(Seventh year 2006)

From 24 till 27 November 2006 at Duncan Centre Conservatory and Duncan Centre Theatre the seventh year of the international choreographic competition Jarmila Jeřábková Award was held.
The participants came from Armenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Turkey. The international jury awarded artists from the Czech Republic and Hungary. Dagmar Chaloupková from the Czech Republic was awarded the third prize, Marta Ladjanszki from Hungary and Dora Hoštová from the Czech Republic shared the first and second prizes.
The prominent feature of the competition is its obligatory part - a piece inspired by the music by a Czech composer of the second half of the 20th century. This year it was Jan Novák. The closing evening of the competition was an outstanding event where apart from the winning choreographies music by Jan Novák was performed by his daughter Clara Novak, the flute player living in Paris.
The founder of the competition Eva Blažíčková selected Luboš Fišer as the set composer for the next year.
The competition has been organized by the association Jarmila Jeřábková Award and Duncan Centre Conservatory, Prague since 1999. It is aimed at dancers and choreographers up to the age of 35 from the field of contemporary dance and dance theatre from Central and Eastern Europe. So far the competition has been attended by artists from Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Rumania and of course the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Details of the programme can be found
at http://www.duncanct.cz.

JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD 2005
Report from the sixth year of the Jarmila Jeřábková Award
Press release

The choreographic competition Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2005 finished by the announcement of winners and a concert on 14 November.

The competition is for young contemporary dance and dance theatre choreographers up to the age of 35 from Central and Eastern Europe. Each participant presents two choreographies, one free (10-30 min.) which is not older than two years and a new choreography created especially for the competition inspired by the music of a contemporary Czech composer. Each year a different composer is assigned.

The competition aims at bringing young artists to the idea of cultural their mutual bonds, common roots and historic experience and at helping them start their artistic career.

Jarmila Jeřábková Award always starts with a performance of new pieces by last year´s winners and finishes with the announcement of this year´s laureates. Apart from the winning choreographies the last evening features also a concert of the works by this year´s set composer. In 2005 it was Sylvie Bodorová.

The international jury decided as follows:

The first prize was awarded to Lenka Bartůňková from the Czech Republic who presented herself as a mature artist with a clear and articulate intention and interpretation. She has the ability to create a piece of art which is a universe in itself. She presented the free choreography Cafe (choreography and performance by Lenka Bartůňková, music Yvonne Printemps, costumes Mariana Jamníková) and Libera me (choreography and performance Lenka Bartůňková, music Sylvie Bodorová, costumes Mariana Jamníková).

The second prize was awarded to Filip Canov from the Czech Republic. He appealed to the jury by his nervous expression and constant creative excitement. His body and mind kept producing new ideas and incitements.

The third prize went to Gregorz Paňtak from Poland. He choreographed and performed in a cultivated way especially the piece The Longing (choreography Gregorz Paňtak, performance Ewelina Kubot and Gregorz Paňtak, music Sylvie Bodorová, costumes Elžiběta Paňtak).

Report from JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD 2004
Duncan Centre Theatre 12 - 15 November 2004

The fifth year of the competition for Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2004 for young choreographers from Central and Eastern Europe took place at Duncan Centre. This year the participants came from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. There were 14 participating choreographers this year. The competition is specific for its openness to ever wider range of countries. Each participant competes with two choreographies, one free and one obligatory to the music by a contemporary Czech composer. This year the directress of Duncan Centre and founder of the competition Eva Blažíčková chose the composer Jan Hanuš in memoriam. A choreographic workshop was held for the competitors by the directress of DC Eva Blažíčková. The originally planned workshop of the jury member Trude Cohne from Holland was cancelled because of her injury.

The jury, comprised of representatives of the USA, Great Britain and the Czech Republic, awarded the first prize to the Hungarian choreographer Marta Ládjanszki for her solo pieces One and Image (to music by Jan Hanuš). This non-conformist and deeply intuitive and consistent choreographer works without mercy with her body which she has under perfect control. She exposes her body controversially and in a provoking manner. The second prize went to Jana Vránová for her piece Catharsis and her choreography inspired by Hanuš´s composition Wooden Christ. Though still a student Vránová surprised by her mature and temperate expression, clear contour of her stage ideas and subtle touches of social topics. The third prize was awarded to Klára Alexová for her choreography Red Is the Colour that Purple Desires Most and So Finally You Came (in co-operation with Jitka Štecová). Alexová is one of the few participants in the competition to create group choreographies; she works with collective dynamics and leans on the emotions of stage lights and colours.

At the end of the competition Eva Blažíčková announced the next competition. In 2005 the Jarmila Jeřábková Award will be open to choreographers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria and newly Romania. The composer for next year´s obligatory choreographies is Sylvie Bodorová.
The competition and all performances were open to public.

PRESS RELEASE
JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD 2003
Duncan Centre Theatre, 14 -17 November 2003

On Monday 17 November at Duncan Centre Conservatory awards were given to the winners of the competition which bears the name of the legendary Czech modern dancer. The competition is for young dancers from Central and Eastern Europe. The number of participating countries grows every year. This year competitors came from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland and Latvia. Each participant presents two choreographies - one free and one obligatory. The latter is set to music by a Czech contemporary composer. This year it was Marek Kopelent, who had just recently received the Prize of the Ministry of Culture. The international jury, comprised of representatives of the USA, Great Britain, France and the Czech Republic, awarded the prizes which are accompanied by a financial contribution to cover the creation of a new piece. The prizes went to Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. The first prize was awarded to Katalin Inhof for her choreography Becoming a Picture and the piece Lightning to Kopelent´s String Quartet No. 3. The jury praised the compactness of her opinion and dance expression, the power of her solo performance which fills the space, attentive attachment to music, distinct phrasing and the subtle ways of mixing flamenco influences with contemporary dance expression. The second prize was awarded to Jaro Viňarský from Slovakia who had received a Jarmila Jeřábková Award before. The jury admired his free choreography Never Infused Tea for its daring intimate topic, choreographically brilliant parts as regards conception and quality of movement, the merge of dance and everyday-life movements and a sense of space. His obligatory piece Decision, set to Kopelent´s String Quartet No. 4, ranked among the most interesting performances (with the help of a mask he expressed the contrasts among socially ritualistic, binding and also vulnerable motifs in the music). Malwina Rzonca received the third prize for her piece Dream and for the obligatory choreography Trio for One Body, Mind and Soul to Kopelent´s String Quartet No. 3. The jury liked the originality, even eccentricity, of her concept, her ability to wake the spectators´ imagination and the artistic purity of the piece. Special mention was awarded to the youngest participant in the competition, the sixteen-year-old student of Prague Dance Conservatory Eva Kolářová who surprised all by her exceptionally musical expression in the performance of String Quartet No. 4 by Marek Kopelent, by her mature composure and childish fragility as well as precise movement. The directress of Duncan Centre Conservatory Eva Blažíčková announced the next competition which will welcome competitors from a new participating country - Bulgaria. The assigned composer for next year is Jan Hanuš.

PRESS RELEASE
JARMILA JEŘÁBKOVÁ AWARD 2002
International choreographic competition in contemporary dance

From 15 till 18 November at the theatre of Duncan Centre Conservatory the third year of the choreographic competition for young choreographers Jarmila Jeřábková Award took place. Competing choreographers and dancers came from Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Every year the range of participating countries from Central and Eastern Europe expands. Each competitor presents two pieces - a free work and an obligatory choreography, the latter being each year set to music by a different composer of modern Czech classical music. This year the set composer was Otmar Mácha. The international jury (chairperson Nina Vangeli, CZ, Eva Blažíčková, CZ, Jana Návratová, CZ, Elizabeth Le Quesne, GB and Julia Ritter, USA) awarded the first prize to the Hungarian choreographer Ferenc Fehér for his two solos Avondo and Pictures in Black and White. The jury noted the purity of its dynamic physical outline, the author's treatment of space and detail and his ability to lead a dialogue with the difficult piece of music. The second prize went to Slovenia for the presentation of the free choreography Three Sisters by Mojca Majcen, Anka Rener and Alexandra Vučkovič. The jury praised their energetic choreographic gesture, diverse and at the same time compact composition maintaining girlish sincerity. The third prize was surprisingly won by non-dancers -students of the alternative branch of the Theatre Academy of Performing Arts, Prague: Tomáš Měcháček, Tomáš Jeřábek, and Tomáš Bořil, who, by their non-dance style, presented an ironic image of dance affectation in their piece MATAPA. This year's competition was closed by a solemn evening. In the presence of the composer Otmar Mácha his Partita for Brass Instruments was performed by the Brass Quintet. Also performed were the award winning choreographies. The Jarmila Jeřábková Award 2003 was announced; the obligatory composer would be Marek Kopelent. The fourth year will bring competitors from additional countries - the Baltic republics - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.