When I was nervous, I would grab the ball and kick it. I knew I could not change the things around me, but I could change myself. If Messi could do it, so could I. You can’t give up. You have to dream. And keep going. Every ball you kick goes somewhere. You can’t catch a penalty, you just kick it badly. Everybody can excel at something.

A lot of young boys around the world aspire to be Lionel Messi. He’s their king, their unattainable idol. All the boys in Africa are Lionel Messi if they’re not Ronaldo. What do you make a ball out of? And what can you do with a ball? How many balls can you spin on one foot?

When football and art meet, it becomes freestyle.

If you learn how to handle the ball, you can learn how to handle people. And if you fail? You try again and again and again... until you get it right. A show about football, Messi, and freestyle that motivates kids all over the world, the importance of heroes and following your dreams.

Freestyle football world champion Daniel Pražák meets DJ and musician badfocus on stage to tell a story about determination, will and the desire to follow your dream. Directed by Petr Boháč and Miřenka Čechová, the show revisits the form of multi-genre performance for which they have received awards in the past, including Best of in the Washington Post and the Fringe First Award, bestowed by the world’s biggest theatre festival. They have performed in venues from Stockholm to Johannesburg and New York to Shanghai.

Miřenka Čechová is a performer, choreographer, director, author of the books Miss AmeriKa and Baletky, a leading figure not only of the Spitfire Company, but also of the Tantehorse ensemble. Her original work has reaped success on Czech and international stages, e.g. The Best of Contemporary Dance by the Washington Post, Herald Angel Award.

Petr Boháč is a director and a trained expert in Czech literature. Works he has directed have appeared in more than 20 countries. Several of his shows have received awards such as The Fringe First Award, Aerowaves Priority Companies 2014, Divadelní noviny awards, etc. He is currently also the director of Palác Akropolis.

Daniel Pražák has been playing freestyle football for more than ten years. During this time, he has won over 20 trophies. He is the only Czech to have won the World Championship in Freestyle Football, specifically in the "sick three" discipline, which focuses on the three hardest tricks done in a row.

badfocus alias Prokop Korb is a music producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has performed numerous concerts such as at the United Islands, Mladí ladí jazz, Spectaculare, the London Electronica festival, Tallinn Music Week or M for Montreal in Canada. In 2023, he was also among the finalists of the HEMI Music Awards project.

www.spitfirecompany.cz

​  ​