Czech National Ballet and Brno National Theatre Ballet announce their 2020/2021 season

Balet ND. Foto Martin Divíšek

Czech National Ballet Prague

“It’s a bliss to have such a season ahead of us. It will include three new premieres, nine returning titles and a new project called Laboratory. I’m also very pleased to say that we have gained international renown, not only for our touring productions that helped us win reputation abroad, but also for the wide spectrum of our repertoire which makes us equal to the world’s famous ballet ensembles,” says Filip Barakiewicz,  the artistic director of the Czech National Ballet.

The company will open the 2020/2021 season with Phoenix, an original work created exclusively for the Czech National Ballet. The authors are Douglas Lee, Alejandro Cerrudo and Cayetano Soto. The world première will take place on 12 November 2020, at the National Theatre.

The second première of the season will be a detailed reconstruction of John Cranko‘s Romeo and Juliette, staged in collaboration with the costume and set designer Jürgenem Rosem. The Czech première will be held on 25 February 2021, in the State Opera.

The third premiere entitled Forsythe-Clug-McGregor will comprise works by three contemporary choreographers. William Forsythe is the leading figure in the world of dance. He fuses ballet and visual art, and displays both abstraction and forceful theatricality.  The mixed bill will feature his choreography The Second Detail set to the music by the Dutch composer Thom Willems. The piece was created for the Canadian National Ballet in 1991 and is specific by its neoclassic symmetry and seamlessly growing technical challenges. Forsythe plays with tempo and typical off-axis lines. The second part of the bill is a work by Edward Clug, the artistic director and in-house choreographer of the Slovenian National Ballet in Maribor, who gained choreographic reputation for his 2005 ballet Radio and Juliet. The third part Eden / Eden was choreographed by the British creator Wayne McGregor, who integrates dance, cinema, fine art, digital technologies and science. In his works, he addresses issues such as the impact of technologies on the aesthetics of the environment and on the human body. The Czech première will take place on 6 May 2021 in the State Opera.

In order to discover new dimensions, the Czech National Ballet repertoire will also include a project called Dance Laboratory, a platform for displaying original short works.

Brno National Theatre Ballet

On the occasion of the 250^th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, Mário Radačovský in cooperation with the orchestra and choir of the Janáček Opera is preparing a joint project entitled Beethoven. The decision to create an original work paying homage to the outstanding composer was not encouraged by the important anniversary only, but also by the artistic attractiveness of Beethoven’s great and exceptional character, his hard life and his genius. Radačovský was also inspired by the hot-headed and constantly lovestruck artist himself, as well as by his unrivalled compositions. The music score is based on Beethoven’s symphonies, with the 9^th Symphony (with Schiller’s Ode to Joy) occupying a prominent place. The première of the ballet will take place on 13 November 2020 at Janáček Theatre.

By the mixed bill Stabat Mater, named after Pavel Šmok‘s choreography, the Brno National Theatre Ballet wants to celebrate this great persona and crucial figure of Czech independent dance of the 2^nd half on the 20^th century. Stabat Mater, set to the 1^st part of the eponymous oratory by Antonín Dvořák, is one of the peaks of Šmok’s choreography. Jiří Kylián will enter the company’s repertoire for the fourth time with the choreography Sleepless – a work that stands out from his “black and white” period and moves closer to contemporary dance. The music score has been composed by Dirk Haubrich around one of Mozart’s late works, Adagio for a Glass Harmonica. The last work is a creation by another internationally renowned contemporary choreographer, the Israeli Ohad Naharin. His Black Milk is a performing challenge for five dancers. His choreography Venezuela will be performed by the Batsheva Dance Company as part of this year’s Divadelní svět Brno festival. The première will take place on 5 March 2021, at Janáček Theatre.

The Brno National Theatre Ballet will also launch the Open Air project Letní baLetní koktejl – Biskupský dvůr and complementary programmes to the performances of the Nutcracker 20/21 – to the Nutcracker with kids! It will also participate in the International Dance Day and the Dance Life 2020 festival.