Days of Prague offers Israeli audiences the opportunity to experience contemporary Czech culture with performances of dance, theatre, and music, as well as several exhibitions. A collaborative project of the Prague and Jerusalem Municipalities, the Israel Festival and the Czech Ministry of Culture, under the artistic direction of Marina Šternová, Cultural and Press Attaché of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv, Days of Prague will be officially launched on June 5, 2012 by the Mayor of Prague Bohuslav Svoboda on the occasion of his visit to Jerusalem and his meeting with the Mayor Nir Barkat.
Days of Prague events at the Israel Festival include:
The Forman Brothers will perform the intriguing cabaret-circus performance Obludarium in the Jerusalem Theatre Plaza on May 27 & 29, and June 2, 4, & 5 with an ensemble of 15 jugglers, dancers, and actors. Duration: Two hours and 15 minutes, without intermission.
The Defiant Requiem will be performed on May 31, 2012 at Binyani Hauma, Israel Convention Center. Telling the story of Jewish prisoners at the Terezin concentration camp who performed Verdi’s requiem, the concert will be conducted by Murry Sidlin, who wrote the accompanying texts. Israeli actors Sasson Gabai and Yona Elian will participate in the dramatic performance, with The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra IBA, The Kuhn Choir and soloists Ira Bertman (soprano), Bracha Kol (mezzo-soprano), Yotam Cohen (tenor), and Assaf Levitin (bass-baritone).
The Kühn Choir of Prague will perform an A Capella concert on June 1, 2012 in the Henry Crown Concert Hall of the Jerusalem Theatre. The program will include masterpieces of Czech Romanticism and modern music: Dvořák’s “Moravian Duets,” Bohuslav Martinů’s “Four Songs About Mary,” and the remarkable requiem by Zdeněk Lukáš.
Jaroslav Jakubovic and friends will perform on June 5th in the foyer of the Jerusalem Theatre at 23:30, and on June 8th on the Ben Shetach Boardwalk. Both concerts are FREE and open to the public. Jaroslav Jakubovic will perform with singer Berenika Kohoutov and the trombonist Peter Palesnik from the Czech Republic, and Arad Yeini (Trumpet), Moran Baron (Trombone), Adi Rennert (Keyboards), Israel Nachum (Drums) and Zur Ben Zeev (Bass) from Israel.
Dance Company Dot 504 will perform on June 5th in the Rebecca Crown Auditorium of the Jerusalem Theatre. Choreographered and performed by Lenka Vágnerová and Pavel Mašek, under the artistic direction of company founder Lenka Ottová. The performance depicts a future reality where human beings continue to living on planet Earth after the extinction of all animals. The two dancers express the relationship between the hunter and his prey, and between hunting and devouring. In this highly intense work, the dancers move carefully in relation to one another, while considering the possibility of hurting one another. The performance will be part of a joint Czech-Israeli evening with “Six Years Later” choreographed by Roy Assaf and performed by Roy Assaf and Hadar Yunger Harel.
The exhibition Prague Panoramic will be on display at the Jerusalem Theatre from May 30 – June 17.
