DANCE DOUBLE BILL

The title of Roberta Ferrara’s poetic manifesto refers to an iconic reportage photo from the 2018 Gaza protests – a snapshot likened to a Delacroix’s painting “Liberty Leading the People”.
A duo of new productions by the MDO’s ballet company is complemented by Štěpán Pechar’s dance grotesque, set in a dehumanized world whose machine order is overturned by the desire for love and freedom.
discussion follows 

Roberta Ferrara WHITEflag day 

libretto, choreography, direction, set and costumes, lighting design Roberta Ferarra
assistant choreographer Bernard Courtot de Bouteiller

premiere 9 May 2024

Please note that the production uses strobes.

Italian choreographer, dancer and teacher Roberta Ferrara (1988) has collaborated with Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat on projects at the Venice Biennale and the Ravello Festival. In 2011 she founded and still directs the contemporary dance company Equilibrio Dinamico, based in Bari, southern Italy. She has worked as a teacher and choreographer in many international institutions across countries and continents, and her productions have been featured in the programme of festivals and theatres throughout Europe, Asia and America.

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Štěpán Pechar INVENTING FREEDOM

libretto, choreography, direction, lighting design Štěpán Pechar
assistant choreographer Fabien Roques
set and costumes Pavel Knolle

premiere 9 May 2024

Choreographer and dancer Štěpán Pechar (1987) moved to Prague in 2005 after completing his post-secondary studies on the Maltese island of Gozo to pursue his dance career. In 2010, he graduated from the Dance Conservatory of Prague and became a member of Laterna magika. He has worked with 420PEOPLE and the Prague Chamber Ballet. In 2015, he accepted an offer to join the National Theatre Ballet, where he has danced in choreographies by Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Václav Kuneš and Petr Zuska. He is the executive and artistic director of the independent dance company DEKKADANCERS, which strives to make dance accessible to the general public.

Moravské divadlo Olomouc (MDO), or the Moravian Theatre Olomouc, is one of the oldest theatre buildings in the country (opened in 1830). It has three ensembles – opera/operetta, ballet, and drama, with Roman Vencl as its artistic director since 2016. The ballet section has been led by Jan Fousek since 2022. The artistic director of opera and operetta since the 2022 season is Veronika Kos Loulová, the founder of RUN OPERUN, an association dedicated to the popularization of opera; she has thus become the youngest director of opera in Europe.
In 1996, Václav Kožušník, the then director of the MDO, initiated the creation of Divadelní Flora – a project that has evolved from a regional showcase of Moravian multi-company theatres into one of Central Europe’s most prestigious festivals.