The TANEC PRAHA 2020 international festival was beautifully prepared at the beginning of March and advance ticket sales were unprecedented. We selected artists from Europe (Italy, France, Great Britain…) and beyond (Indonesia, Brazil, Israel…) for this year's festival and were looking forward to seeing them. Czech artists planned to connect with international ones in specific projects and were eager to tour the regions too, just like every year. Our original plan called for 22 municipalities and towns in the Czech Republic.

Times have changed. The TANEC PRAHA Festival will certainly not take place as usual this year. Nothing is happening right now. We have no idea when the borders will reopen and whether anyone from abroad will be able to come here at the beginning of the summer. That doesn't mean everything will end. Some things are postponed, some live in hope.

TANEC PRAHA is ready to open its modified program to the public as of 9 June 2020, if the government's release schedule is fulfilled as announced. We are intensively preparing the festival program so that you can enjoy it with us. This will possibly take place in two phases, the first being in summer from June 9 and the second in autumn, if we succeed in rescheduling any of the foreign performances and it will be feasible to hold them.

The Czech dance scene has made strides internationally in the last decade like never before. Alongside the first creative generations of the post-November era, a whole new young energy is flourishing, and we consider it important to create opportunities for all of them. The summer of 2020 may be dedicated only to domestic artists for the first time in the festival's history. And why not? On top of everything, these artists and their teams lost their jobs overnight in mid-March, so it is practically our duty to create new creative opportunities for them, which will enrich their and our experiences, even in a completely new way.

Our artists can face challenges, they are not tied to theatre spaces and are used to going outside their walls and creating performances almost anywhere. The Tanec Praha team will be happy to support them, opening new challenges for outdoor projects, so as not to deprive the public of what makes live art truly alive: direct contact with the audience. An unrepeatable, irreplaceable online environment, one that is completely unique.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Yvona Kreuzmannová