Absolventské představení 2024, 14. 06. 2024 Stavovské divadlo
Good evening colleagues, students, parents and dance theatre audience,
for 30 years we have been offering a unique educational concept of "conservatory - grammar school" to exceptionally talented and inquisitive children whose parents have high demands on their education. We also respect that our teachers and predecessors founded the first modern dance company in Central Europe in 1961. These are our roots. That is why, when building the conservatory, right after 1989, we have always ensured a constant connection between the training process and the stage practice and a well-thought-out dramaturgy throughout the eight years of study. We organize fully professional artistic, production and technological facilities for public artistic activities - often in direct collaboration and co-production with prestigious dance institutions.
It is not difficult to put together a programme of graduate performances: we maintain stable contacts with major international and national artists and have our own choreographic workshop, supplemented by new graduates. All graduates have had the opportunity to work in the junior artistic companies Baby Ballet Prague and Ballet Prague Junior since the 3rd year, some have worked in independent projects in cultural, educational and motivational events. The most active ones complete around 300 performances during their studies - therefore they can enter the graduate stage with a healthy self-confidence and determination to show the best of their newly grown-up talent. This is a class that, right in the middle of their studies, has had a difficult two-year covid period in a digital environment of classrooms, streams and online performances. Students regularly sent rehearsal variations to school on video from living rooms, hallways, carriage houses, patios and parks. Today's graduates and their educators and creators have had to bridge and catch up with all of this - they deserve a lot of credit.
The competencies of the graduates are not just about performance - that is, craftsmanship in classical, contemporary and ethnic dance techniques, expressive skills, movement and spatial intelligence, and exceptional rhythmic or musical memory. We enable our students to fully "do" theatre and culture - to learn about creative and staging practices, stage technology, as well as cultural management, grant diplomacy, and the comprehensive rehabilitation necessary for a professional career. These are all brand new criteria for arts education - which is why, even after thirty years, it's not easy to explain it to the Department of Education and some colleagues in the industry... but it works safely. In the end - judge for yourself.
A pleasant evening with the junior dance theatre.
