Memories of what was,and pleasure from what is. That is what we present on stage. We play, listen to each other, propose and dance together — there by telling our stories, both individual and collective. We share emotions, our Slovak nature and physical humour. We share with the audience what is between us: our ways of being,friendship, and history, while paying attention to every detail and gesture. A little means a lot. It is about listening and sensitivity for each other; insideand outside. We are composing and performing at the same time. We use music as a huge part of our inspiration!
In 2006, Les Slovaks dance collective started to work on their first creation, Opening Night. This experience, (a creative process that lasted one year,) laid building blocks for their collective way of working and decision making. It was the beginning of developing common skills in composing while performing, finding movement language, (later named “New Traditional dance,”) and finding a way of relating to each other and the public while performing through Slovak folk dance, music and singing. The premiere of Opening Night was in November 2007. In Opening Night Les SlovaKs align themselves on intersecting axes such as on purpose - by chance, fun - boredom, on - off,dancing - non dancing, with - against, and inside - outside.
By making these basic principles of the individual and the group a dynamic part of their compositional system, Les SlovaKs' work becomes utterly transparent and the audience is invited to witness the humour in disagreement, the momentum of consensus, and the rigor of personal investment that constitutes the trial and error of creating a performance together. The decisions that take place through out the process continue on stage, making the public an important part of the calculation.
The music is a vital part of their stage presence as well. References in the dance are folded into as core that meets the dance from another perspective.
In Opening Night Les SlovaKs developed their rich collaboration with musician and composer Simon Thierree.
CHOREOGRAPHY AND DANCE BY:Les SlovaKs Dance Collective: Martin Kilvady, Peter Jasko, Anton Lachky, Milan Herich, Milan Tomášik
COMPOSITION AND LIVE MUSIC: Simon Thierrée
SET DESIGN: Les SlovaKs Dance Collective
LIGHTING DESIGN: Hans Valcke, Joris De Bollee
COSTUME DESIGN:Mat Voorter, Pepa Martinez
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Joris De Bolle
PRODUCTION PHILEAS PRODUCTIONS: - ulti‘mates / ULTIMAVEZ
COPRODUCTION: Teatre Mercat de les Flors (Spain), FondazioneMusica per Roma (Italy)
PARTNERS:DCJ Dans Centrum Jette(Belgium), BUDA Kunstencentrum (Belgium)