42+PEOPLE: WHERE

This is one of those idea’s that now feels like ‘how come I didn’t think of it much sooner?’ It was just after or maybe during the finishing touches of our new studio Maiselovka when we (with 420PEOPLE) were thinking, what could be the next step in our nearly 15 years of existence. Well, we already had a new and rather major update to our ‘normal-till-then’: we planned to create AND perform small, intimate productions at the Studio.  Sort of as a platform to try out things which we can then develop for large stage, where we usually perform. Also to offer this platform to our dancers, should they have the creator’s bug. Kind of a springboard if you will. In some ways though, this wasn’t exactly new, it was something we knew, something that we were familiar with. So what could be the ‘next-new-normal’? We have already planned our open classes and other kinds of public lessons and we knew from our experience that we will attract young people too. And that some classes will be great for older generation as well. So what next…? Then it hit me, it was more of a blast from the past… As a young dancers I often had the great opportunity to tour the world with a group of amazing older dancers. To be clear, ‘older dancer’ is not a fixed term, there’s no such a thing that you turn lets say 38 and you need to go to update your bio. And even then, at my age (meaning when I knew next to nothing), I remember being completely awestruck by ‘them’. It was not just their artistry or ability to perform with a gift of total honesty, it was also their general philosophy on life as a performer = human being. I realised I’m kind of missing this spirit, this range of thoughts, …all caught up in running the company, in my own  stuff, my projects and so on I didn’t have a space for it. But when I pushed myself to search for some perhaps missing sensations, this blast from the past came in. Then it all came together: little play with the numbers in our name 420PEOPLE and deciding that 42 years of age of a Dancer could be the ‘invitation’ to the club: 42+PEOPLE concept was born. There’s no upper limit, obviously. And here we are. I honestly hope for this to be a long term project. The idea is simple: each year to create a new work where all the (dance) performers will be over 42 years old. There should be a shorter film version of the work too, capturing the essence of the onstage work. The proximity of the audience in Studio Maiselovka is just perfect for this type of events as you can really see every detail of each performer, you feel every breath they take. You can literally touch the performers and that is a unique set up, perfect for 42+people. Needless to say that this concept is unparalleled in the Czech Republic. Not so, however, around the world. There have been such concepts long ago, performances created especially for older performers, who still have so much to offer. Perhaps they will not do salto’s but they have a gift to make you feel as if they did just that. And you will believe them.