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LENKA VAGNEROVÁ
Artistic Director / Choreographer
LENKA VAGNEROVÁ
Artistic Director / Choreographer / Pedagogue
Director and choreographer of the dance theatre ensemble Lenka Vagnerová & Company found in 2012, for which she has created a series of author`s internationally acclaimed performances. As a choreographer, director and pedagogue, she has been active on both the domestic and foreign contemporary dance scene. Her productions have won many awards and nominations both here and abroad.
Lenka studied pedagogy of modern dance at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague under the supervision of Doc. Ivanka Kubicová.
As a choreographer and director, Lenka created a series of author's performances for Lenka Vagnerová & Company: Panoptikum, Amazones, Riders, The Lešany Crib, Gossip, María de Buenos Aires, Sorcerer, La Loba, Jezdci, Mah Hunt and kids performance Hansel and Gretel. The shows were awarded and nominated by: Herald Angel Award / The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Best Dance Performance / The Singapore Fringe Festival, The City of Pilsen Award / Skupova Pilsen International Festival, Dance Performance of the Year, Audience Award, Dancer of the Year / Czech Dance Platform Festival, Total Theatre Award Nomination / Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 10x Thalia Awards, etc.
As a guest choreographer and director, she has created a number of productions for ensembles such as: National Theatre Prague (POE), Kassel Staatstheater, Norrdans, 2 Faced Dance Company, VERVE NSDC Leeds, City Theatre Prague, Viirus Theatre Helsinki, DOT504, Accademia Nazional Di Danza Rome, choreography for opera Sternenhoch by Ivan Acher / National Theatre Prague, direction and choreography of two kids and family performances Snow Queen and Robin Hood in Minor theatre Prague etc.
Lenka created choreography for ORANGE "Trust journey" directed by Seb Edwards, produced by Wanda Production.
Lenka is actively involved in pedagogical activities. She teaches her method "Talk Through Your Body", which simultaneously specifies the movement qualities and principles contained in Lenka's work. Lenka tought workshops and led classes in schools and dance ensembles in our country and abroad, such as: Göteborgs Operans Danskompani, Norrdans, Skånes Dansteater, Dansehallerne Copenhagen, Danscentrum-syd Malmö, Danscentrum-nord Gothenburg, Danish Dance Theatre, Ballet de Marseille, B12 Festival Berlin, Dance Institut Belegrad, TFYD Mexico - Scuela Profesional de Teatro Físico, Verve NSCD Leeds, 2Faced Dance Company, Stopgap Dance Company, Viirus Theatre Helsinki, Accademia Nazional Di Danza Rome, Cirk Cirkör, New scene / National Theatre Prague, Theaterwerkstatt Hannover, Il Giardino delle Esperidi Festival, Israel Festival, Tanz offEnsive Hannover, Academy of Performing Arts Prague, Dance conservatory Prague, Etc.
As a choreographer, Lenka also worked for drama, opera, or new circus projects all around Czech republic, for ex.: Minor Theatre, National Theatre in Prague, Municipal Theatres in Prague, Prague City Theatre, South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice, Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Králové, Cirk la Putyka, Shakespeare Festival in Prague etc.
In 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 she worked as a Rehearsal Director in the Swedish Norrdans company.
As a dancer she worked with choreographers and companies as: Claude Brumachon-Benjamin Lamarche CCNN in Nantes, Akram Khan Company - London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony 2012, Cirk La Putyka, Veronia Riz, DOT504, Bratislava Dance Theatre, Torzo Ballet etc.
As a dancer she has received: 3x Thalia Award Nomination (2003, 2005 and 2010) , in 2003 she was awarded for the Nokia Dance Award / Dance Personality Of The Year, in 2005 she was awarded the Dancer of the Year / Festival Czech Dance Platform.
Awards and Nominations of Lenka`s works:
RIDERS:
THEATRE NEWSPAPER AWARD NOMINATION 2023
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2023: wider nomination for Monika Částková
PANOPTIKUM:
THEATRE NEWSPAPER AWARD 2019/2020 for Lenka Vagnerová: concept, direction and choreography
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2020 for Michal Heriban
AMAZONES:
THEATRE NEWSPAPER AWARD 2017/2018 for Lenka Vagnerová: concept, direction and choreography
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2017 for Fanny Barrouquére
OPERA PLUS AUDIENCE AWARD NOMINATION 2017:
- THE BEST DANCER: Fanny Barrouquére
- THE BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Lenka Vagnerová
THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR NOMINATION / I-THEATRE 2017
THE LEŠANY CRIB:
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2016 for Fanny Barrouquére
OPERA PLUS AUDIENCE AWARD NOMINATIONS 2017:
THE BEST DANCER: Fanny Barrouquére, Andrea OpavskáTHE BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Lenka Vagnerová
THE THEATRE NEWSPAPER AWARD NOMINATION 2016/2017
GOSSIP:
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2015 for Andrea Opavská
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2015 for Ivo Sedláček
TALENT OF THE YEAR NOMINATION 2015 for Ivo Sedláček / WORLD AND THEATRE
OPERA PLUS AUDIENCE AWARD NOMINATION 2016:
THE BEST DANCER: Fanny Barrouquére, Andrea Opavská, Ivo Sedláček
THE BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Lenka Vagnerová
LA LOBA:
THE BEST DANCE PERFORMANCE AWARD /SINGAPORE FRINGE FESTIVAL 2016/ The Sraits Times Life’s list
PILSEN CITY PRIZE / SKUPOVA PILSEN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2016
HERALD ANGEL AWARD / THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL 2014
TOTAL THEATRE AWARD NOMINATION / THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL 2014
DANCER OF THE YEAR AWARD / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2014 /Andrea Opavská
JEZDCI:
DANCE PIECE OF THE YEAR / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2013
DANCER OF THE YEAR NOMINATION for Andrea Opavská, Tomáš Červinka / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2013
LIGHT DESIGN AWARD NOMINATION / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2013
MAH HUNT:
AUDIENCE AWARD / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2011
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2011 for Lenka Vagnerova
DANCER OF THE YEAR NOMINATION 2011 / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2011
LIGHT DESIGN AWARD 2ND PLACE / / FESTIVAL CZECH DANCE PLATFORM 2011
MARÍA DE BUENOS AIRES:
THALIA AWARD NOMINATION 2021 for Nina Horáková
Media:
„ Lenka Vagnerová a fabulous dancer and a great choreographic talent.
She has attained a refined physical expression owing to her bold sense of theatre and urge to voice her opinion of substantial issues – the question of power, the question of the co-existence between humans and other natural beings. She excels in finding subjects and creating sceneries, as well as coming up with original movement variations, and, what is more, she possesses a great sense of dynamics and humour.
She has confirmed her reputation as the most gifted young Czech choreographer.“ (Nina Vangeli, New York, Master Lecture about Czech Dance)
"Vagnerová is a truly original choreographer with a strong feeling for theatre. Her topics include existential questions of life: she is occupied with human life and the related worries, fears, anxiety, relationships, conflicts, and the eternal struggle to survive to the bone. However, she has a sense of humor and she can soften and downplay the dramatic situation and comical solution. And only very few people can do it. She does not spare the dancers, yet it is visible how she sympathizes with them. Her choreographic methods are full of technically challenging obstacles, requiring artistry and the ability to take a risk, which is very close to physical theatre. Her style is truly easy to identify." (Marcela Benoni, Taneční aktuality)
"TALK THROUGH YOUR BODY" WORKSHOP:
“Dance, as I conceive it, is able to awaken imagination in the spectator, stir emotions, it can enshrine values and communicate things that cannot be communicated in words. For me, the basic building block in training is to understand the body through imagination. In this way we are able to reveal in the body many various movement qualities and principles, to find a specific dynamic, coordination and chiefly inside logic. My training system is based on the principle of "the body as a puppet". This method strives to achieve the maximum kinetic possibilities in a person’s body without needless muscle tension and stress, develops plasticity, musicality, the ability to react to impulses, we learn to listen to our own inner rhythm, perceive the space around us and listen to the others.
An integral part of the workshop is partnering, where use of the mentioned principles, the perception of the partner and absolute trust lead to perfect coordination.Thanks to an understanding of physical patterns, partnering can become a logical and powerful tool of communication. Limits of balance, manipulation, passing and receiving impulses, listening, guiding and following form parts of partnering and move dance on to a magical level. During workshops we enrich a person’s own kinetic possibilities and the borders of physical and mental conception of dance. We ask the question what dance means to us and what attracts us to it, what purpose training serves, where a performer’s own interpretation of dance begins. What role does a physical action and dance play when communicating an idea or creating a theatrical situation.
We will work individually, in partnering, we try to touch theatrical situations through physical action, ... We will "talk through our bodies". Lenka Vagnerová
Lenka in video documentaries:
POE / ČT ART / documentary 2022
Divadlo žije Lešanské Jesličky
2 Faced Dance Company / Fallen Angels / documentary