Who we are

About

The TANEC PRAHA International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Theatre is one of the biggest events in the Czech cultural calendar. Every June since 1989, the festival showcases the diversity and quality of the current foreign and domestic dance scene, gives space for experimentation and crossover with other genres, and supports the emergence of new works as co-productions. The program, which addresses both the general and professional public (from children to the elderly), is structured into program lines such as Event of the Season (essential groups and figures from the world dance scene at the opening and closing of the festival), festival co-production in international collaboration, TANEC PRAHA JUNIOR, Dance NEWs (space for young talents from the Aerowaves platform), TANEC PRAHA FOR STUDENTS, VEN.ku TANCI (dance in public and non-traditional spaces) and others. At present, the festival’s program offer is featured in 20 cities and municipalities, both indoors and outdoors.  

TANEC PRAHA has long enjoyed the patronage and support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the City of Prague, and individual productions have been presented under the auspices of various national embassies in the Czech Republic. The festival received its highest award for its 25th anniversary season in 2013, when it was ranked first in a competition of 235 European festivals in all genres in the EU Culture program. In 2017 it became the only festival in the Czech Republic to win the EFFE (Europe for Festivals – Festivals for Europe) Award, for its extraordinary quality, engagement and impact of its work in the local context, and is again part of the EFFE Guide to European festivals.

The TANEC PRAHA Festival was the impetus for the establishment of the non-governmental non-profit organization (NNO) Tanec Praha in 1991 and remains the main activity of this NNO.

Mission

Our mission is to annually and continuously organize the international festival at the highest artistic and organizational level. The festival strives to present inspirational and high-quality works of contemporary dance and movement theatre to the widest possible audience, to help discover and compare the latest trends on different continents, to motivate, inspire and connect the Czech artistic scene with those in other countries, and to help foster conditions for the development of contemporary dance throughout the Czech Republic.

Vision

Our vision is to move the concept of contemporary dance to the principle of openness to new ideas, mutual dialogue and cooperation at the national and international level, and to remain a recognized and progressive cultural event in Europe.

We want to continue to:

  • popularize, make accessible and bring dance closer to all groups of people without any restrictions;
  • encourage the exchange and sharing of experiences from the domestic and foreign dance scenes, stimulate development, and inspire and motivate experimentation;
  • support the emergence of new works with international outreach, and be a guarantee of good cooperation;
  • share valuable artistic experiences and up-to-date social topics with the public;
  • promote the visibility of contemporary dance in the regions of the Czech Republic with respect for local partners and artists, and extend the possibilities of cooperation in the field of presentation and creation itself; and
  • be a respected partner for an open dialogue at home and abroad.

We believe in the important mission of dance as a living and constantly evolving art form. We therefore continue to focus on all the possibilities of exploring its diversity, the currency of the artistic message and popularization in the widest possible public discourse.

Priorities of the Artistic Board when planning the festival vision:

  • artistic quality
  • creativity / originality
  • diversity, courage to experiment beyond borders of genre
  • topicality of the artistic message, themes and forms
  • openness of the message / cooperation

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