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HIS COUNTRY

The year 2024 was The Year of the Czech Music and 200th anniversary of birth of Bedřich Smetana.

We dedicated this year to authorial creation, tah accents his name. His Country čmeláků out of this process, a theatre play, that travelled not only within Czechia, but also Poland, Austria and unbelievable Nepal!

The piece was opened for many students and schools as educational source about that particular period of time.

His Country offers unique opportunity to go down on the Moldau river and history of Czech-german relationships on a washtub, with enough beer from the whole trip.

The project was created in cooperation of The Theatre Company Turnov and Imuza.  

The main inspiration to the project was drawn from the piece My Country by Smetana itself, particularly the old scores, from which I played Prague Spring opening with Czech Philharmonic orchestra, where you can find many funny comix-like drawings of parallel stories of the players on these pieces. I thought, what could happen if we made them alive on stage?

The script and the scene was inspired by following sources: notebooks by Smetana, historian Václav Holzknecht, Alois Jirásek, fine art works by Julius Mařák, Karel Vik, Smetana, Aleš, Věnceslav Černý, Arno Nauman 

script and regie: Petr Haken 
theme: Jana Kubánková 

music: Bedřich Smetana 

music supervision: Martin Hybler 

lights: Monika Hakenová a Artuš Hašek 
scene: Petr Haken 
costumes: Klára Jandová 

Cast
Fridrich 1 – David Meixner 
Fridrich 2 – Petr Haken 
Fairy 1 – Theresia Anna Hakenová
Fairy 2 – Ema Leitnerová

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Two Times Life

Colture Company set out on an artistic journey!

Besides the situation and restrictions. No censorship, no closure! We are opening soon also for you! In spring 2021, two online premieres will be held! 

Our team is working hard via digital waves. We work in separate teams, closed in our cities across Germany and Czechia, from Cologne and Heidelberg to Prague and Turnov. connected by skype, post-mail and ideas. 

We now live TWO TIMES LIFE, a topic of transformation. This trans-disciplinary performance was supposed to have a premiere in Heidelberg. We move now to movie form. 

An inspiration to our performance became fascinating story of ne artist Einar Wegener, who make himself re-operated as first person in the world from man to woman, fragile beautiful lili Elbe. Within our creative process we analyze the issue of male in woman and female in man as well as coexistence of both aspects in one person and vague borderline of the two sexes. 

Our grasp of topic react on past story of Einar as well as present uncovering the issue among young generation of 15+, where the number of trans-people is increasing, in matter of future we deal with depoliticzation and desocpialisation of the issue by movement to openness and transcendence.

To us, this topic is not just about changing the sex, but the more about our rigidity of our perception and judgment. The performance opens the insight to this phaenomena of diversity in unity, the everything is included in one. 

Premiere of the film from Colture Company creative process within Europe in March 2021!

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A Border Bridge

How to react on closed boundaries, border lines restrictions? How to feel about quarantine, human distance, all the bans, all the “mustn’t do’s”? 

The only solution we see, in order not break our multicultural world in pieces, in building the bridge between us, the bridge of cooperation and artistic work beyond the stone houses, wooden stages, unity of time and space. 

In reaction on the situation fo corona 2020, of government bans, we are building a bridge of cross-european artistic cooperation! 

Visit our way of dialogue on the new website Colture Company

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Being Medea at Fringe Festival!

After succesful fall performances in Czechia and Germany we are pleased to present Being Medea performance at prestigious Fringe Festival in Duisburg, Germany.

official festival website

Due to coronavirus bans the festival was postponed from planned August session to October. During August, an online sketches and invitations to performances will be offered on official website of Fringe festival.

Being Medea is authorial work of german scriptwriter and reggiseur Stephan Bestier and czech composer Martin Hybler. This psychological drama provides the audience the insight to the soul of migrating women, their relationship with their past and homeland, attitude to presence at the doors of new country, their relatonship to themelves. Personality of Jason is presented unique way – by nonverbal musical language of solo oboe and its expressive potential.

Women world is provided behind the fence to the audience. Contrary free Jason is moving throughout our free space within the audience and in virtuoso cadenzas straight communicates with people in audience. 

In Medea roles are starring german actresses Yvonne Reich, Johanna Withalm a Natalie Renaud-Claus. Jason is played by excellent oboe player Vilém Veverka.

official website

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Sanremo Junior, fourth time!

On 19th of February the fourth venue of great finals of competition Sanremo Junior was held at Hybernia Theatre Prague.

all finalists on stage

Competition is arranged for children singers from 6 to 15 years. Every year, ten Czech and three Slovakian finalists are chosen to be prepared for final festive concert. The preparation is led by professional artists and singers, for four months children attend intensive seminars of singing technique, motion and artistic expressivity as well as etiquette, psychohygiene and work with stage fright – led by Jana Kubankova).

During the final evening young singers have an opportunity to sing with symphonic orchestra life with conductor Martin Hybler. Winner is sent to world final to Italy in May.

This year, eleven years old Karolína Čížková won the Czech section and thirteen years old Mária Valentová Slovakian one.

  • Karolína Čížková
  • Mária Valentová
Finalists with conductor Martin Hybler in action!

This competition is not just about singing, but even more about meeting other people with various backgrounds and interests, and reaching new life experience. This year all the castings straight to this finals a boy from Children’s Home passed and excelled. He made a great motivation for those who does not come from satisfying background and also proved that if you really want something and work on it hard you can reach it.. The world finals in Italy is then not just about fancy music, but even more about meeting of all nationalities in common interest and desire, which music makes!

finalists with whole artistic and managing team of the competition, BonArt Pops Orchestra
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Being Medea Premiere in Dresden

On 23th and 24th of November two premiere performances of theater-play Being Medea was held within the festival Kunsttage Dresden, in completely sold out space of industrial zone Sektor Evolution. Project was supported by Czech-German Fund for Future.

Being Medea is authorial work of german scriptwriter and reggiseur Stephan Bestier and czech composer Martin Hybler. This psychological drama provides the audience the insight to the soul of migrationg women, their relationship with their past and homeland, attitude to presence at the doors of new country, their relatonship to themelves. Personality of Jason is presented unique way – by nonverbal musical language of solo oboe and its expressive potential.

Women world is provided behind the fence to the audience. Contrary free Jason is moving throughout our free space within the audience and in virtuoso cadenzas straight communicates with people in audience.

In Medea roles stared german actresses Yvonne Reich, Johanna Withalm a Natalie Renaud-Claus. Jason was played by excellent oboe player Vilém Veverka.


official web of the festival

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Keys of Freedom resounded Velvet Anniversary

17th of November, 2019, 30 years from the Velvet Revolution, famous victory as one point in history but thirty year journey to fight it, victory of ideals but long-term process of their realization. Polemic on social and human values, which keep the democracy healthy and functioning, discussion over the threats, risk factors and power manifestation, which lead the democratic building to fall. What really means the word freedom? How freedom bounds us to keep it alive?

dancer Šimon Kubáň, conductor Martin Hybler and IMUZA Company

We put all these layers into our Keys of Freedom, which came to light from professional artistic cooperation within our Institute freedom. We created life sequence of music, dance and visual, which offered the audience the insight to key moments of past times, key threats for democracy, key values, which constitute democracy, and experience these esthetically and emotionaly, enter the atmosphere of the time and truly feel it inside themselves…

Jana Kubánková and Daniel Mikolášek

Great composition Crux by Czech author Luboš Fišer for violin solo and percussion played by Jana Kubánková and Daniel Mikolášek opened the whole evening. This composition was written as a protest to the process of violation of nation by normalisation raising after the entrance of the Warsaw Contract Armies to our country in 1968. An authorial video by visual artist Pavel Tichoň tied up thematically. In six minutes audience could watch ver originally defined key moments of the past 50 years of politics in our country, with taste of satire and light overstatement.

IMUZA Company, Martin Hybler

Composition by Martin Hybler “Oligarch, the Globalizer” with great dance choreography of Šimon Kubáň followed. This composition was created about 14 years ago as a vision of potential threat of people entering the high leves of society and politics with aim to capture the power by their money and destroying democracy. The character of Oligarch was performed by Šimon Kubáň, played by IMUZA Company with conductor Martin Hybler.

Ten minutes of fresh old american jazz followed. Bohemia Saxophone Quartet captured the audience with great but smooth sound and beautiful musical characters. During the whole composition audience could watch a presentation of famous citations of world leading personalities about democracy. Old American jazz was an inspiration but also a symbol of freedom for our country so this performance was more than symbolic part of the programme.

Second authorial video by Pavel Tichoň followed. This work was named “Key Keys” and dealed with key human values we should open in ourselves on the way to reach freedom and democracy.

Bohemia Saxophone Quartet
IMUZA Company, v pozadí závěr videa Pavla Tichoně

At the very end of the programme an arrange of old St.Wenceslav Chorus by Martin Hybler named “Veritas vincit – Verity wins” was played by IMUZA Company, on canvas audience could see the pictures of famous and key demonstrations on Wenceslav Square in Prague as a symbol of national fight for truth and freedom.

Keys of Freedom were presented on festive evening of 30th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in city Turnov, Czech Republic.

Photos by Ester Havlová.