In the Flow of Change by 420PEOPLE

Premiere: May 20-21th, 2025

Location: Paolina Hall, Castell Sant´Angelo, Rome, Italy

CREDITS:

Choreograph: Sylva Šafková

Dancers: Francesca Amy Amante, Simona Machovičová, Filip Staněk, Viktor Konvalinka and local dancers of the Urban Dance Academy Rome.

Music: Tomáš Reindl

Production team: Marta Lajnerová, 420PEOPLE

PR manager: Aneta Jochimová

Photo credit: Vojtěch Brtnický

The choreography In the Flow of Change at Castel Sant’Angelo explores the relationship between movement, space and power, drawing inspiration from the historic Sala Paolina. The frescoes commissioned by Pope Paul III serve as a foundation for a movement language that balances freedom and constraint, echoing the duality present in the site’s architecture and layered history. Created for four dancers and one musician, the site-specific performance includes two young performers from Rome’s Urban Dance Academy—an institution supporting youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their presence alongside professional artists opens a space for social inclusion and shared authorship within the creative process.

One of the key inspirations is Pianto del Tevere (1901), a poem that contrasts the river’s organic flow with the rigidity of city structures—mirrored choreographically in the dancers’ negotiation between fluidity and form. Composer Tomáš Reindl contributes a live soundscape evoking liturgical and resonant elements, underscoring the majesty of the Sala Paolina and enhancing the performance’s dialogue between past and present, structure and transformation.

SYLVA ŠAFKOVÁ

Sylva Šafková began her dance studies in 1994 at the Conservatory in Brno and later transferred to the Prague Dance Conservatory. From 2000 to 2002, she continued her studies at the École-atelier Rudra Béjart in Lausanne. She performed as the dancer soloist with the Prague Chamber Ballet of the Prague State Opera in 2004-2005, and later as a demi-soloist with the National Theatre Ballet in Prague until 2013. In 2009, she graduated from the Prague Academy of Performing Arts with a degree in choreography. She participated in several internships in Israel – Vertigo Dance Company and Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. Since 2015, she has been working with the Dance Company Nanine Linning / Theater Heidelberg, where she held the position of rehearsal director and assistant choreographer in 2016-2017. Currently, she closely collaborates with the contemporary dance company 420PEOPLE, where she has choreographed INspiraCe, Why Things Go Wrong, and HeArt of Noise.

420PEOPLE

420PEOPLE is a company of contemporary dance, in the name of which the creators have written a Czech telephone code. The ensemble was founded by dance choreographers Václav Kuneš and Nataša Novotná at the turn of 2007/2008 after their return from a stint with one of the world’s most prestigious dance theatre companies – Jiří Kylián’s Nederlands Dans Theater. Their shared vision to build their own contemporary dance company in Prague gave birth to the 420PEOPLE brand, which has been active on the Czech and international scene for 17 years.

The company is a combination of modern level of interpretation, professionalism, originality, thoughtful playfulness and courage. Since 2018, artistic director and choreographer Václav Kuneš has taken over the leadership of the company. 420PEOPLE collaborates with dozens of Czech and international dancers and artists on stage, in dance films and online live broadcasts. With such a breadth of scope, the company maintains a stable place among the finest independent arts entities. The company stages and performs more than 110 performances annually in the Czech Republic and abroad.

The activities of the company within the project are supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague, Václav Dejčmar and Studio Maiselovka. The project Dancing Histor(y)ies is funded by the European Union. “Creative Europe” program (Project id: 101099222).

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