SATURDAY BAZAAR 2026

The Saturday Bazaar presents extracts of projects under development by contemporary dance and theatre artists from Central and Eastern Europe, working at the intersection of dance, performance, documentary theatre and artistic research. It is a direct dialogue with artistic practice as it is currently emerging. For such works to develop further, they need their community: their audience and its sensitive perception of everything found above and below the surface. The program spans a return to the past and the memory of the body, an examination of conscience, vulnerability and resistance, ecological thought and personal processes of decolonialisation. From a dialogue with history and the ethics of movement, through physical theatre as a space of freedom and risk, to artistic research of the Danube’s water ecosystems, and an attempt to "exorcise the demons” of the collective and personal past – this year’s presentation addresses urgent, contemporary questions through the body, dance and the performative imagination.

After each extract, Kristýna Boháčová will moderate a brief discussion with the artists and audience.

THE SATURDAY BAZAAR PROGRAM INCLUDES:

• Tomáš Janypka a kol. /CZ/: moje svědomí je čisté, baby

moje svědomí je čisté, baby (my conscience is clear, baby) is a new work exploring dance, physical theatre and vulnerability and reflecting on freedom, risk and the body as a means of expression and resistance.

• Katalin Bitó /HU/: Wetland harmonies

Wetland harmonies is an independent research project. The artist follows the Danube River Branch Restoration Project, implemented by the BROZ organization on Charles Island in Bratislava. Her artistic research focuses on water dynamics, the groundwater network and its impact on biodiversity.

• Mariia Bakalo /UA/: Dancing out colonial demons

An unraveling of the themes of dance and demonology. The choreographer is drawn to the idea of ​​developing a dance practice and aesthetic that can metaphorically help her “exorcise unwanted ghosts from the past,” such as internalized feelings of inferiority, shame and guilt.