TEXT, DIRECTION, CHOREOGRAPHY:
Simone Sandroni (IT/CZ)
CONCEPT, ARTISTIC COLLABORATION:
Honza Malík
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PERFORMERS:
The Performing Tribe comp. - Paulína Šmatláková, Eliška Hulínská, Václav Moule, Robert Štěpánek, František Fabián, Matouš Ondra
DRAMATURGY:
Simone Sandroni
LIGHT DESIGN AND SET:
Robert Štěpánek, František Fabián, Matouš Ondra
MUSIC MIX:
Beck, MGMT, The Certurians, Lykke Li, Mario Cuomo, Wolfmother, Alice Coltrane ft. Pharoah Sanders, The Daily Planet, Molchat Doma, The Beatles, Quilapayún, W.A. Mozart, Yves Montand, King Dude, David Bowie, Blanket, Wojciech Kilar, COH, Clare De Lune, Sunn O))) & Boris
SOUND DESIGN:
Václav Moule
COSTUMES:
Mariana Novotná
SET DESIGN:
Simone Sandroni & The Performing Tribe comp.
PRODUCTION:
Veronika Vavroňová, Honza Malík & 2VA z.s.
PRODUCER:
2VA z.s. & TANEC PRAHA festival
PROMOTION, PR:
2VA z.s. & TANEC PRAHA festival
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Special thanks to A.I. for technical support and for not participating in the creative process.
PREMIERE:
June 3, 2025, 7:00 PM, Moving Station, Plzeň
DURATION:
60 min
“Let there be the Light” is a work that blurs the boundaries between labor and creation, between function and inspiration. The stage is built before our eyes and, in doing so, becomes a narrative in itself. The technicians, like sailors aboard the Pequod, give life to a ship that—without them—would be nothing more than wood, ropes, cables, and darkness. The journey begins from a safe harbor—the empty stage—with a destination in mind, but without knowing what storms, surprises, or revelations lie ahead.
A performance that pays tribute to those who work behind the scenes, while playing with roles, power structures, and the hidden dynamics of stage creation—through a language that is contemporary, physical, and political. The very title, “Let Be the Light”, evokes both a way out of darkness and an invitation to lightness—now more than ever essential to resist rigidity, ideology, and fanaticism.
SIMONE SANDRONI is an Italian choreographer and director. In 1987, he became a founding member of the Brussels-based company Ultima Vez, with which he collaborated until 1992. In 1993, he founded his own company Ernesto in Brussels. In 1996, together with Lenka Flory, he established the international dance group Déjà Donné in Prague, which regularly performs across Europe, North America, and Asia.
In addition to his own productions, Sandroni has created numerous works for festivals, independent artists, and schools in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia (e.g., Bayerisches Staatsballett Munich, National Theatre Prague, Tanztheater Bielefeld, Festival de Beweeging Antwerp, Theater Varia Brussels, Sosta Palmizi Italy, Duncan Centre Conservatory Prague, VŠMU Bratislava, Four Chambers Dance Projects Toronto, Luzerntanz at Luzernertheater, En-Knap Group Ljubljana).
From 2015 to 2022, he was the principal choreographer and artistic director of the Bielefeld Theatre Dance Company in Germany. He also served as resident choreographer at the Bavarian State Opera from 2008 to 2016, and at the Luzernertheater in Switzerland from 1999 to 2002.
