the dance company 420PEOPLE
The contemporary dance company 420PEOPLE was founded by Václav Kuneš and Nataša Novotná at the end of 2007 after their return from a stint with one of the world’s most renowned dance theatre companies - Jiří Kylián’s Nederlands Dans Theater. They shared a vision of creating their own contemporary dance company in Prague; 420PEOPLE was born, which is currently celebrating its 15 th anniversary in the Czech and international dance and theatre scene.
420PEOPLE is not only a contemporary dance company but also a “brand” that offers the public a unique perspective on the contemporary dance scene through performances and original choreographies at a high artistic and professional level. Its continuous creative work brings exceptional originality and an unforgettable artistic experience to the stage and the online space. The ensemble also engages in a non-traditional dialogue with audiences through workshops, online projects, discussions, dance films, documentaries, screenings and other activities. Under the leadership of its artistic director Václav Kuneš, the company presents a unique contemporary dance vocabulary in performances and original choreographies by contemporary artists (Václav Kuneš, Sylva Šafková) with a modern interpretive and professional level.
420PEOPLE that is, above all, Václav Kuneš together with his colleagues from diverse art‘s fields they carry out their artistic vision and effort to produce works of the label Made By Czech that are nevertheless proud and integral parts of the international dance scene.
15th anniversary in the Czech and international dance scene
The 420PEOPLE dance company is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in the spring season 2024. The company, one of our best contemporary dance ensembles, has definitely transcended the imaginary boundaries of the Czech telephone area code embedded in its name by its founders, Nataša Novotná and Václav Kuneš. The internationally acclaimed dance company has included some of the best performances such as The Watcher (choreography Václav Kuneš), EVER (choreography Václav Kuneš), Why things go wrong (choreography Sylva Šafková), HeArt of Noise (choreography Sylva Šafková), MÁJ (choreography Václav Kuneš), the 42+PEOPLE project with performances WHERE (choreography Václav Kuneš), SOFTER SKILLS (choreography Edan Gorlicki) or Beauty and the Beast, Nebesa. The 420PEOPLE ensemble has prepared an exciting and busy start to the next season for dance, music and theatre connoisseurs. The repertoire will showcase the best of 420PEOPLE’s work.
“The fact that our independent company has existed for 15 years is a great team achievement. At the same time, we perceive it as a commitment that gives us great pleasure. In recent years, we have established our own space, Studio Maiselovka, and a welcoming backstage at the La Fabrika theatre. We have also introduced a new dimension of dance with the 42+PEOPLE project, which involves mature dancers. As a result, our audiences will have many opportunities to see our top dancers in original and new performances in our country and across Europe.” (Václav Kuneš)
The audience will be able to enjoy several productions that have received wide praise from critics, such as The Watcher - dance show and rock concert in one, with the band Please The Trees at La Fabrica theatre, HeArt of Noise performance with at ARCHA+ Theatre, the EVER dance show like a zen garden at La Fabrica, the captivating May based on the famous poem by K. H. Mácha at the New Stage of the National Theatre, the horror tale Beauty and the Beast in collaboration with the National Theatre Drama Company, and the acrobatic performance Nebesa/Heaven with the Losers Cirque Company at BRAVO! Theatre.
The performances presented on the main stages of Prague’s theatres stand in contrast to 420PEOPLE’s new stage, the unique space of Studio Maiselovka in the heart of Prague. Studio Maiselovka offers a creative space for dance and movement, where the company rehearses and holds classes and workshops for the public. At Studio Maiselovka, our audience can experience two of the latest dance duets. The 42+PEOPLE project, with its pilot performance WHERE by choreographer Václav Kuneš (dancing with Helena Arenberger), presents a new perspective on contemporary dance by performers over 42 years of their dance career. Another performance SOFTER SKILLS was launched as part of the 42+PEOPLE project, we have invited a foreign choreographer, Edan Gorlicky, who presented a performance for prominent Czech dancers aged 42 and over on the Studio Maiselovka stage.
The duet Why things go wrong, choreographed by Sylva Šafková, introduces the audience to the (im)moral, ethically questionable nature of human behaviour and the glittering self-perception of one’s own ego, performed by two great dancers, Viktor Konvalinka and Michal Heriban.
420PEOPLE’s latest dance performance, HeArt of Noise, choreographed by Sylva Šafková, is inspired by noise. Most people tend to perceive noise as a distraction; however, the performance transforms the negativity of noise into a creative and imaginative element. On stage, the dancers interact with the sounds of the human body, heartbeats, voices and the sound of water, and their perception affects our reality in many
ways.
Visit our STUDIO MAISELOVKA (Maiselova 4, Prague 1)
Dancing Histor(y)ies
We are currently part of a European project "Dancing Histor(y)ies – binding communities and heritage through dance" / The project ID: 101099222
"Dancing Histor(y)ies – binding communities and heritage through dance" builds on the positive experience of Heritart, a Creative Europe small scale cooperation project focused on the promotion of archaeological sites through performing arts. Where "Dancing Histor(y)ies – binding communities and heritage through dance" will innovate is in the combination of heritage sites, local community groups and visiting dance companies; the development and testing of how these constituencies best come together, with local variants, across 2 editions of a festival with multiple locations. DH’s use of Dramaturgs as creative catalysts to facilitate collaboration between the 3 key sets of stakeholders; Higher Education research input into the modelling, testing and implementation of these practices and sector focused Training of key professionals together constitute a unique capacity building of the EU heritage sector, modelled, tested, refined and disseminated for wider interrogation and adaptation. The project will be enriched by the different perspectives, suggestions and approaches of the institutions, target groups and stakeholders involved. At the end of the project, the good practices detected, the methodology designed, and the results achieved, will become a shared and common knowledge available for further use and implementation at European level, creating a multiplier effect that single institutions wouldn’t have reached at a national level.
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
In previous years, we were also part of a European project "CLASH! When classic and contemporary dance collide and new forms emerge" / Creative Europe (Programme of the European Union, Grant Agreement n° 2018 – 2032 /001 – 001)
CLASH!
The core aim of CLASH! is the promotion of the transnational mobility of artists and professionals that can enable them to cooperate internationally, strengthening audience development and encoding a model for renovating specific professional roles and skills. In detail, the project wants to support EU South/Eastern dance companies, traditionally bound to classical production and training, toward the new contemporary dance production, that requires new training tools, internal management and audience development strategies.In order to achieve this aim, the CLASH! project pursues the following objectives • OB1: Exchange experiences and best practices and identify new strategies and tools for dance companies and schools willing to develop contemporary and experimental dance training programs and productions • OB2: Develop and implement an Audience Development strategy that enables partner companies to involve less engaged audiences, develop a relationship and communicate with them, reinforce the quality of their experiences, specifically for what concerns those who attend to contemporary and experimental dance productions.CLASH! partners will work together in Laboratories, Workshop and Seminars to produce the project’s results, which will be • 4 international peer-to-peer laboratories • CLASH! Guidelines • CLASH! Training Strategy • Realization of 5 National seminars • Production of 5 original dance pièces that will bring on stage during the 1st edition of the CLASH! Festival and the CLASH! Tournée • Elaboration of an Audience Development strategy • 15 national Audience Development workshops • 5 national networking, local dissemination events and 2 international conferences
