Večer slovenský a žiadny iný: Katja Dreyer, Peter Šavel & PiNKBUS
Slovakia, What’s the Story, Mum? is an artistic interpretation of Katja Dreyer’s personal journey in search of her mother’s story, who fled from Czechoslovakia in 1968. After the Soviet Union suddenly invaded her homeland and ended the Prague Spring, she left her country at the age of 23—like many others—and sought happiness in West Germany.
In her work, Katja Dreyer deals with the past in order to better understand our multi-layered present. Now, for the first time, she is embarking on her mother's story. She is looking for a connection to the landscape she feels within herself, an understanding of the decision to leave or stay.
However, relating to her Slovak and Slavic identity proves to be a difficult task. Her mother cannot (or does not want to?) remember everything, and Dreyer never learned her mother's language.
Fortunately, during her search, she met Peter Šavel, a dancer who is half Slovak and half Brussels. As a queer boy, his mother sent him to Slovak folk dance classes to "fix" him a little. Now he passes on his knowledge to Katja. His language, his dance, his hands and feet form a kind of portal to her own history. Together, they sketch out all the parallel storylines that took place during and after "socialism with a human face." Hidden in this collage series of danced and spoken poems is the question: what are we passing on to the next generation?
PiNKBUS: slovenský a žiadny iný
PiNKBUS greets the forests and mountains, greets them with all its heart! We belong to Slovak culture. We ARE Slovak culture. Whether MADAM likes it or not. Let's change traditions together!
It's time to "party" because Slovak culture is only Slovak and no other. At a time when traditional values, the countryside, and folklore are being promoted on the one hand, and queer people and city dwellers on the other, the nation is seeking common ground and striving for understanding between the two camps.
And there's nothing better than music! From the Tatras to the Danube, from Eugen Suchoň's Páslo dievča pávy to Marika Gombitová.
1/9
is a platform that primarily supports queer artists and brings a new wave of creativity to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It builds on the tradition of Prague cabarets and variety shows and spices it up with a dose of the rising trend of drag queens. The creators are responding to the strong global growth of drag culture and bringing it into the Czech and Slovak context. Interest in this type of art and performance has grown immensely and spread beyond the LGBT community. It opens up a discussion on the most current topics in today's society, such as sexuality, nudity, freedom, physicality, and the cult of beauty. The creators are increasingly convinced of the need to build a platform for the queer art scene. Creating a safe space that spreads awareness and connects people is more important than ever before.
https://pinkbusplatform.com/
is a theatremaker, dancer, teacher, and performer. She has worked with Nico Boon, Mette Edvardsen, Begüm Erciyas, and David Weber Krebs, and studied Intercultural Theatre Making at the HKU, commuting between the Netherlands and Belgium, before settling in Brussels in 2005. In the intervening years she has become a permanent fixture at Kaaitheater, where she has shown Ophelia Comes to Brooklyn and Cry Me a River. The quest for the source.
Concept/text/creation/performance: Katja Dreyer
Creation/movement/performance: Peter Savel
Sound creation/performance: Anne Van de Star
Sound advice: Benne Dousselaere
Dramaturgy: Esther Severi
Scenography & costume design: Anna Halász
Lighting: Geni Diez
Outside eyes: Willem de Wolf, Rodrigo Batista
Image: Britt Hatzius
PiNKBUS:
Martin “Venice” Talaga
Ermin Fazlić
Jakub Spevák
Jozefína Dlabíková
a hosté
Thanks tyo Nova Synagoga, Stanica-Žilina (Slovensko), REZI.DANCE (Komařice, Czech republic), kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk), Monty (Antverpy), KWP Pianofabriek (Brusel), Workspacebrussels (Brusel), HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste (Kaaitheater), Barbora Jombíková, Marketa Malkova, Ľubomír Šavel, Beata Šavelová, Maria Danizova, Saskia Ottis, Britt Hatzius, Helga Duchamps, Jan van Gijsel, Anneleen Masschelein.
With support of De Vlaamse Overheid, Flanders State of Arts
Small hall, KAFE+