Watch Now, photograph by Lea Loviskova
Captivating dance performance that delves into the present-day issues of identity and loss of privacy. Accompanied by live music, Watch Now follows a couple undergoing a difficult time in their relationship. Their fluid interplay sees mutual motions of pushing and pulling as they manipulate and gently caress each other along with refusing contact and inflicting distress. The man and the woman interpret their shared touches, glances and gestures differently as they move through the sequences.
Watch Now is presented at the 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival with the support of RESERVA, Slovak Arts Council, and Consulate General of Slovakia in New York. Talkback after the show with the performers will be conducted by Zuzana Ulicianska, Chair of the Slovak Center - International Association of Theatre Critics. Afterparty reception will take place at Bohemian National Hall’s Ballroom Bar.
Watch Now (2016). Conceived and directed by: Lucia Holinova. Choreographers: Daniel Racek, Lucia Holinova. Performers: Barbora Janakova, Daniel Racek. Music: Vlado Holina. Vocals: Sandra Tordova. Presented by: RESERVA, Bratislava. Duration: 50 minutes.
Free and open to the public. Seats are limited, on first-come, first-served basis. Registration online through Eventbrite is required.
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Lucia Holinova is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, dance dramaturge and editor-in-chief of TANEC magazine. Holinova has worked as a dancer with numerous choreographers and directors, including Mary Fulkerson, Marjolin Sinke, Milan Sladek, Marta Polakova and Anna Sedlackova. She co-choreographed of several performances presented in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Austria and Cyprus. Holinova has authored feature-length performances, such as Crack (1999), The Gap (2012), Watch (2015), Pi Story (2015) and Danube (2016). Some of the projects that she has co-founded or co-authored include the Contemporary Dance Association (1996), the Bratislava in Movement International Festival of Contemporary Dance (1997) and the Dance in Arena (2001-2002). In her pedagogical work, Holinova focuses on contemporary dance techniques, improvisation, contact improvisation, integrated dance and the Alexander Technique. Since 2014, she has been active in the integrated movement theatre LEN TAK TAK as a teacher and choreographer.
Daniel Racek is a dancer who has remained dedicated to contemporary styles and contact improvisation since 1992. In 2006, he received the Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award for the best interpretation performance in contemporary dance. Racek is engaged with groups in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Norway as a dancer and teacher. He has collaborated with numerous choreographers, such as Julyen Hamilton, Michael Helmerhorst, Marta Renzi, Ioana Popovici, Jozef Frucek, Linda Kapetanea, Julia Sasso and Karen Foss.
Barbora Janakova earned a degree in dance from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (2016). Since 2011, she has participated in various projects around Slovakia while working with leading European choreographers, including Davide Sportelli (Skin), Anton Lachky (Night Illusion), Livia MM Balazova and Zebastian Mendez Marin (Millennial Magic Mirror) and Lucia Holinova (Niveau Stable). Janakova is an emerging author of performance projects, for example, Bottoms Up, Touch. She teaches at a dance conservatory and is a chairwoman of mimoOs, an association promoting contemporary dance. Janakova also attended several international exchange programs, such as Dijon (France) and China CEEC Dance Summer Camp.
ABOUT THE 2019 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH THEATER FESTIVAL
The 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival explores the disappearance of borders between truth and lies. The festival consists of five international performances—three full plays, one dance performance and a behind-the-scene presentation—along with four special events. In total, the activities offer a notable occasion for adventure of the mind and conduits for shared encounters.
The festival examines different nuances of truth through its third edition, “The Travesty of Truth.” Conceived under the direction of Pavla Niklova, the 2019 Rehearsal for Truth program encourages participants to enter a dialogue on pressing matters that pervade our post-truth era. “The time when boundary is blurred between truth and lie, theater holds the power to re-establish relationships between participants through a common engagement and common experience of truth,” states Niklova.
The 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation (VHLF) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), in partnership with Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and Romanian performing arts organizations and cultural institutes. The series of events highlight Vaclav Havel’s legacy as a playwright through live performances, panel discussions, exhibitions and a ceremony for the Disturbing the Peace Award to a Courageous Writer at Risk. A key objective is to establish exchanges between U.S. and Central European theater professionals. The festival reflects Havel’s contribution to 20th-century theater as well as his belief in the potential of Central European cultural traditions to enrich human existence in the modern age. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.