Dance competition | Rok české hudby 2024

„Every music-loving Czech should know these special and original dances.”

Bedřich Smetana

Let Us Dance

Competition for non-professional contemporary dancers aged 6-26 years

Smetana was not only the founder of Czech national music, but also a renowned dancer, and many dance elements can be found in his music, too. That is why, in addition to a series of musical performances, the Smetana200 project will also host an extraordinary nationwide dance competition for participants aged from 6 to 26 years.

The competition is open to both ensembles and individuals who will create and stage their own choreographies (4-6 minutes long) to Bedřich Smetana's polkas in their original form (using their own recordings, recordings prepared by the music department of an “elementary art school” (ZUŠ), or recordings taken from the Smetana200 website, where they will be available for download from November 2022) or any other – classical or non-classical – original arrangement. Participation in the competition is free of charge.

Aim of the competition

The competition aims to promote collaboration between dancers and musicians. Therefore, musical recordings created specifically for the purposes of this competition will be most welcome. The musical aspect, however, is not subject to evaluation: only choreographies and their performances will be assessed. They must not include any projections or lighting, costumes are the only props allowed.

Competition rounds

The regional rounds will take place in January and February 2024 in each of the individual regions of the Czech Republic. Their winners will be announced on 2 March 2024 – the day of the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana's birth.

The final round of the competition will take place on 11 May 2024 in Prague. In June, its most successful participants will perform at a gala night taking place at the Smetana Festival in Litomyšl, and later in October also at the “Dance, Dance” festival in Jablonec nad Nisou. The absolute winner of the competition will also gain the opportunity to perform at the national festival ZUŠ OPEN 2024 and at other events organized by ZUŠ.

The jury will consist of leading experts. The patron of the competition is Eva Blažíčková.

Partners

Financial support: Ministry of Culture

Organizer: NIPOS

Competition initiators: Czech Philharmonic, Město Litomyšl, Smetana's Litomyšl festival and Umělecká rada základních uměleckých škol České republiky

Recordings of polkas from Bedřich Smetana arranged for this competition can be downloaded here

Polka C major

Arranged and performed by Tomáš Kačo

Region	City	Place of the event	Date
Region Praha a Středočeský	City Praha	Place of the event Duncan centre	Date 3 - 4 February 2024
Region Vysočina	City Jihlava	Place of the event DKO Jihlava	Date 1 February 2024
Region Pardubický	City Litomyšl	Place of the event Smetana House	Date 27 February 2024
Region Zlínský	City Zašová	Place of the event Kulturní dům	Date 15 February 2024
Region Královehradecký	City Hronov	Place of the event Jirásek Theatre	Date 23 February 2024
Region Moravskoslezský	City Ostrava	Place of the event Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava	Date 25 February 2024

„Every music-loving Czech should know these special and original dances.”

Let Us Dance

Aim of the competition

Competition rounds

Partners

Recordings of polkas from Bedřich Smetana arranged for this competition can be downloaded here

Application form

Regional rounds

Jurors

Sara Koluchová

Martin Smolka

Markéta Perroud

Lenka Lázňovská

Eva Josefová Tavernová

Eva Blažíčková

Dagmar Chaloupková

Aliaksand Yasinski

Jana Vöröšová

SMETANA 200 – FAQ

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