Three Questions for the DLE Instructor Tomáš Kuťák

Three Questions for the DLE Instructor Tomáš Kuťák

Three Questions for the DLE Instructor Tomáš Kuťák

Josef Bartoš Author Josef Bartoš
In Brno Exhibition Centre there will be a dance fair called Dance Life Expo from 6th to 8th November 2015. Within the programme organizers of the event offer extracts of choreographies of Czech dance ensembles but there will also be an opportunity to take part in dancing lessons led by instructors from different places of the Czech Republic. Tomáš Kuťák will be one of them – at the fair he will teach Master Class Contemporary JAZZ. We now bring you an interview with him. Tomáš, at first I would like to ask you what drew you to dance.
Well, I’ve always been attracted to dancing. One doesn’t need to experience a turning point that then brings him to doing something. You may simply know what you would like to do. I tried attending dancing groups already as a child but I never stuck with them for a long time, it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. However, I kept coming back and when I was eighteen I started to do dancing more intensively. What made me stick with dancing and start doing it at full blast were Centre Stage films and a record of the musical Cats. I think I’ve seen both million times. I used to learn choreographies at home according to the video – and I simply knew that was what I wanted. You regularly give lessons at many Prague studios. At the dance fair Dance Life Expo you will teach lessons of Contemporary JAZZ… How would you characterize this style?
First of all I would like to differentiate between contemporary and jazz. But I must say that the way I perceive these styles is just my point of view based on my experience from studies in London and the US. The contemporary style in particular is a very complicated thing. It is a style that gives a choreographer/instructor a lot of freedom and therefore individual contemporary lessons differ quite a lot. What definitely shouldn’t be missing is a basis of classical ballet and modern dance. This also applies to jazz but jazz is seen as a more commercial and dynamic style with bigger movements. Your name is also associated with the dance group Evil Dancers, which presented itself at the festival last year. What does creating choreographies make you feel like? Is it fulfilling for you?
Of course it is fulfilling, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. The truth is that it’s my job – so it is also associated with certain responsibilities. Naturally, one doesn’t feel like creating something all the time and there’s not always enough energy left. What creating choreographies makes me feel like is a difficult question. I don’t always manage to get into the proper mood and then I come up with an idea only to throw it away later. But when I tune into the right atmosphere, for example thanks to music… it is difficult to describe the feeling, I would say I get into a different state of mind during which the music completely fills me up and I start thinking of things that surprise me myself. Suddenly all my imagination starts to make sense and ideas fit in one another. Of course, the feeling is the most fulfilling when the choreography works not only in my mind but also on stage and when I watch something I have created and it is a good job.

Translation: Zuzana Sovová

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