DEKKA KICK‑OFF
DEKKA KICK-OFF is a DEKKADANCERS project focused on supporting the youngest generation of dance creators. It is created in collaboration with ARCHA+ and Jatka78, giving selected young talents the opportunity to go through the entire process of creating a professional dance production, from the initial concept through choreographic, dramaturgical, production and communication preparation to its public presentation.
The project connects the experience of the established DEKKADANCERS company with the energy and themes of a new generation. Here, young creators are not only performers, but become the authors of their own stage work. Under the guidance of professionals, they gain practical experience of what it means to create a production in its full scope: to formulate their own artistic intention, work in a team, take responsibility for the result and communicate their work to the public as well as to the professional community.
Since its establishment, ARCHA+ has positioned itself as a space for dialogue and the creation of the young generation. DEKKA KICK-OFF follows this mission by opening up space for young creators to work professionally on their own stage work.
2nd edition: DISTORTION
The second edition of the DEKKA KICK-OFF project culminates in the composed evening DISTORTION, created by a selected group of young talents aged 18 to 28. The premiere takes place on 31 May and 1 June 2026 at ARCHA+.
DISTORTION consists of three original choreographies: PARALLAX by Alice Silná, 눈빛 Nun-bit by Eliška Nevoralová and Over the Rainbow by İpek Özgen. Each of them emerges from a different creative perspective, yet together they form an evening about perception, reality, distortion and the shifting nature of meaning. The production explores how strongly our perception of the world is shaped by personal experience — and how easily we mistake our own perspective for something complete and true.
In the first part, PARALLAX, reality changes depending on who is looking. The choreography is based on the motif of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven and works with photographs created in real time during the performance. These enter the action as shifted, fragmentary images of reality. Perspectives are assembled and fall apart at the same time — just like the idea of a single truth.
The second part, 눈빛 Nun-bit, focuses on the power of the human gaze as one of the most direct forms of communication. A nameless crowd appears on stage, yet each person carries their own story. Gazes meet and miss each other, and the choreography works with emotions that can be communicated without words.
The third part, Over the Rainbow, is based on simple everyday acts of care and embodied memory. Repeated gestures change over time, lose their original function and acquire new meanings. What was once familiar gradually becomes something else.
The second edition moves the DEKKA KICK-OFF project from one shared generational theme towards more distinctive authorial voices of the individual choreographers. It shows that the project is a living space that changes with each edition according to the personalities of the creative team.
Premiere: 31 May and 1 June 2026, 19:00, ARCHA+
Duration: 60 minutes without intermission
Recommended age: 12+
Language: Czech / English
Venue: Main Hall, ARCHA+
Choreography:
Alice Silná
Eliška Nevoralová
İpek Özgen
Performed by:
Kama Bugala
David Horák
Kateřina Iliina
Barbora Karvánková
Alžběta Kohlová
Lucie Prausová
Barbora Rybářová
Klaudia Schneiderová
Klaudie Sojková
Amálie Špachtová
Light design: Lukáš Brinda
Set design: Pavel Knolle
Visual: Pavel Hejný
PARALLAX
Concept, direction, choreography: Alice Silná
Technical solution and photography: Filip Šmelík
Music: Daša Horváthová / Navel Radiation
Nun-bit
Concept, choreography: Eliška Nevoralová
Music: Marek Cimbál
Over the Rainbow
Choreography & concept: İpek Özgen
Sound: Tarık Bülbül
1st edition: HUTCH
The first edition of the DEKKA KICK-OFF project was created on the basis of an open call announced in spring 2024 by DEKKADANCERS and ARCHA+. From the young creators aged 18 to 26 who applied, ten performers were selected to prepare their own dance production under the guidance of DEKKADANCERS. The project culminated on 5 March 2025 with the premiere of the original performance HUTCH at ARCHA+.
HUTCH focused on the theme of overload, heaviness and chaos connected with growing up in a time of unlimited possibilities. The production drew on the generational experience of young people who find themselves under the pressure of constant choice, performance and expectation. The questions “How do you choose?”, “What do you decide for?” and “How do you not get lost under the weight of possibilities?” became the basic thematic framework of the performance.
The first edition confirmed the purpose of the project as an intensive artistic and professional platform. The young creators went through a process that included not only movement and choreographic work, but also dramaturgy, production, marketing, stage components and collaboration with a professional theatre team. Mentoring was provided by members and collaborators of DEKKADANCERS; the programme was guaranteed by the company’s artistic and executive director Štěpán Pechar.
The project also received a positive response from professional critics. Reviews highlighted the ability to create a cohesive collective of young creators with different dance backgrounds, as well as the authenticity of the generational statement.
Premiere: 5 March 2025, 19:00, ARCHA+
Additional performance: 12 May 2025
Title of the production: HUTCH
Created and performed by:
Olha Bashkirova
Simona Bednaříková
Luisa Brychcínová
Amálie Cuplová
Leontina Foltýnová
Kateřina Hulínská
Vojtěch Javůrek
David Kodys
Kristýna Kosková
Alice Silná
With the support of: Patrik Čermák, Štěpán Pechar and the entire DEKKADANCERS and ARCHA+ teams
Costumes: Emma Fiala
Music: František “Luteja” Dušek, Tomáš “TAIPEI8000000” Prokop
Visual photo: Pavel Hejný
Performance photo: Michael Amico
“Hutch: An experiment that worked. (…) The group that created Hutch dances about their problems, but offers hope.”
– Lucie Kocourková, divadelninet.cz
“Behind the explicitly acted scenes, the internal dynamics of collaboration, trust and mutual sharing of energy among the dancers also become visible. The choreography itself works with the balance between control and release, and the theme of equilibrium and balance is thus reflected in the physical expression as well. Last but not least, the production also evoked a sense of wellbeing in me personally. I fully trusted the performers and felt drawn into a completely safe space present throughout the entire theatre hall. I was part of it.”
– Tobiáš Waller, Spora
“Overall, Hutch is an exceptional achievement. The ability to create a coherent, mutually functioning group of ten young creators, all of whom also have significantly different previous experience and dance histories (including current or former students of the Duncan Centre Conservatory and the Dance Conservatory of the City of Prague, representatives of the Dance Department of HAMU, as well as dance studios with a more commercial focus such as Emotion or companies such as Pop Balet), may seem almost impossible on paper, yet it succeeded.”
– Zuzana Rafajová, Opera+