VISEGRAD PERFORMING ARTS
Creative fusion by the nonconformist founder of the Les SlovaKs Dance Collective and a Venezuelan globetrotter recasts the Slovak folk culture into a contemporary dance form which communicates with pop culture, surrealism and expressionism. Choreography: Milan Herich, directed by: David Zambrano.

directed by David Zambrano

choreography Milan Herich
light design Jan Čief
costumes Mat Voorter
music Sergej Prokofjev, Sergej Rachmaninov, Lajko Felix, Asaf Avidan

premiere 9 June 2017 

performing Milan Herich

Milan Herich draws inspiration from the movements of traditional Slovak folk dance and music which he masters to perfection. He deconstructs the folk dance into individual elements and further transforms them to deliver a unique contemporary account.
Jana Bitterová, Taneční aktuality.cz, 17 June 2017

Milan Herich (1980) graduated from the J. L. Bella Conservatory in Banska Bystrica. He left the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava in September 2002 and entered the international school P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios). He participated in one project of the Ultima Vez by Wim Vandekeybus for Puur (2005), which was made into a film entitled Here After (2007). He cooperated with them once again years later in the project Booty Looting (2012). He is one of the five founding members of the Les SlovaKs Dance Collective, with whom he created the productions Opening Night (2007), Journey Home (2009), The Concert (2010) and Fragments (2013). He draws inspiration from traditions of Slovak folk culture, uses elements of folk dance and music while placing them into new contexts.

He has been assisting David Zambrano in his lectures and workshops for more than 17 years and permanently participates in projects such as Rabbit Project (2003), Soul Project (2006) and Holes (2009). The artistic career of Milan Herich took a similar direction as his colleague and compatriot Peter Jaško, with their cooperation resulting in a project called Shared Night (2012). 

The well-respected artist and educator David Zambrano was born in Venezuela and lives in turns in Brussels and Amsterdam. Over the course of his vast career, he has visited more than 63 countries and worked with thousands of dancers of various origins. He has had a great influence on current contemporary dance and improvisation. His most striking and innovative methods are “Flying Low” (examining the dancer’s relationship to the ground) and “Passing Through” (a group composition exercising the practice of the infinite possibilities of moving together inside a defined time-space environment). He has created dozens of original projects that transcend cultural borders and bring together dancers from all around the world: Sal-to, A Song For Two Humans (both 2015), Tierras Enamoradas (2013), Why Not! (2012), etc. One of his last works – Ceviche (2015) – was created as cooperation with VerTeDance and the band Zrní.