Full-length Contemporary Dance Performance / Visual Installation
What remains of a dance performance once it has ended? Can choreography be preserved in the same way as a painting or a building? And how can cultural memory be passed on from one generation to the next through movement?
RE:construction is a full-length contemporary dance performance and visual installation by choreographer and director Petra Fornayová that explores the themes of memory, heritage, and the recycling of artistic works.
The new choreographic work draws on approximately twenty significant contemporary dance productions created in Slovakia over the past thirty years. Fragments of these works, their movement principles, and distinctive artistic signatures come to life through new interpretations by a younger generation of dancers.
Rather than reconstructing the original works, the performance offers a creative reinterpretation of them. The result is a living gallery of contemporary dance that connects the past with the present while raising questions about how we preserve artistic heritage and how we give it new meaning.
The project gains another layer of meaning through its venue. It will take place in the Functionalist hotel complex of Slávia, Savoy, and Diana in Trenčianske Teplice, which is undergoing reconstruction at the time of the performances. The venue itself thus becomes an integral part of the production and a metaphor for renewal, transformation, and continuity.
The performance features six professional female dancers alongside young dancers from Slovakia, creating a unique dialogue between experience and a new perspective.
The project will premiere on 18 and 19 September 2026 as part of the Trenčín 2026 – European Capital of Culture programme.
Concept, Choreography and Direction: Petra Fornayová
Video Art: Jakub Pišek
Head of Production: Matúš Škorvánek
Production and Technical Support: Creative Institute Trenčín
The project is created in collaboration with Hotel Savoy, ZUŠ Muzeta Bánovce nad Bebravou, and the BEKONN Dance Group Trenčín.
We would like to thank the creators and the Theatre Institute Bratislava, Audiovisual Recordings Collection, for providing the recordings.
