Ponec – The dance venue unwraps the new 2024/25 season, a diverse and vibrant mix of fresh energy, new faces, and seasoned personalities from the dance world. Join us on 20 September at 20:00 for the season opening and immerse yourself in the theatre's new course.

The historically first artistic council (Dagmar Bednáriková, Hozna Malík, Sylva Šafková) will unveil not only their plans for 2025 but also the new concept of artist residencies and other visions and prospects. The first selected artist-in-residence for the 2025 season is Nataša Novotná. Her short dance movie New Normal, directed by Jakub Jahn, represents a fitting first step into the new season.

The second part of the evening will burst with open and unrestrained Brazilian energy. What happens if you combine these characteristic features with the work of a Ukrainian artist and Czech music and design creators? Experience this unusual mixture through the piece of the international women duo that presented its open-air premiere of Womanhood during the 2024 Tanec Praha International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Theatre. As you may guess by its title, Womanhood is about femininity and womanhood. Nevertheless, it is also a show about solid energy, perceptiveness, sensitivity and empathy. You can look forward to seeing two outstanding performers on the stage: Yana Reutova, a Ukrainian dancer and choreographer who has been creating and teaching in Prague for three years. By her side, Ponec will welcome Clara da Costa, a Brazilian dancer and choreographer who brings in her experience from both Latin America and Europe. In addition to the duet, you will see the world premiere of Clara's solo Peel the Onion. The open-air version of the show will be presented during the Take Back Your Street! Festival a day later.

As the host of the opening held at the Ponec Theatre, Michal Sikora will guide you through the varied programme.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Yana Reutova & Clara da Costa: Womanhood

Don't take yourself too seriously is what the female protagonists of the show Womanhood want to share with the world. Through dance, they celebrate diversity, but also promote a sense of unity and empowerment of women around the world. Through the fusion of different cultural backgrounds, personal experiences and artistic influences, they strive to create a performance that transcends gender boundaries and resonates across audiences.

Clara da Costa: Peel the Onion

Physicality - sensations - feelings - emotions, how to get "under the skin" of yourself? Does our body language, gestures, expression reflect everything we feel? Why do we so often prefer to hide something? A deeper probe into the depths of the soul gives us wings, take off and see that beauty is in the eyes of those who feel it. Peel an onion and you won't cry.

Nataša Novotná & Jakub Jahn: New Normal

The short dance film is the pilot of Laterna Magika's series, Laterna for Camera. New Normal is a sociological term defining the state that occurs after experiencing change. The film responds to the current situation in a broad metaphorical focus and in a way anticipates the state of the new normal we are moving towards as hope, opportunity and transformation. The New Normal is hope.