The 12th edition of MOVE Fest Ostrava is officially open!

Yesterday - on Sunday, September 21 - MOVE Fest Ostrava 2025 kicked off at the cultural centre Provoz with the Czech premiere of the dance film Zenit! Before the screening, both younger and older audiences enjoyed the family punk-rock concert Rock Me Baby, which MOVE Ostrava presented at the Puppet Theatre for the second year in a row due to popular demand.

And the most dedicated festival visitors opened the 12th edition in true style - in motion - with a morning yoga session on the breathtaking rooftop of the City Campus of the University of Ostrava.

The first day of MOVE Fest was truly packed - and this was only the beginning. The festival now has five more days ahead and over fifteen events that will bring you contemporary dance, new circus, physical theatre, workshops, and a student symposium.

One of the biggest highlights of the coming days is the Ostrava premiere of Wild Geese - a new MOVE Ostrava production created in co-production with the Prague ensemble FysioART. On the stage of the Puppet Theatre, movement meets live music by Vladivojna La Chia, forming a poetic, playful and touching story for children aged six and up, together with their parents.

The director of MOVE Fest - and at the same time a performer in the production - Jana Ryšlavá invites the audience “to set out with us on a journey after the Wild Geese, for a story that is as fragile as it is strong. It is a performance about searching for freedom, and about the ties that keep us grounded. And we believe that everyone will find a piece of themselves in it.”

Wednesday’s Ostrava performance is part of a Czech-Slovak premiere tour, giving festival audiences a unique opportunity to witness the birth of a new piece that is sure to become a steady presence in contemporary Czech physical theatre.

On Thursday, the festival program brings the legendary production A Dance Tribute To The Art Of Football by Norwegian choreographer Jo Strømgren - a creator well-known to Ostrava audiences from previous editions of MOVE Fest, as well as from the repertoire of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre. This time, audiences can look forward to an unconventional fusion of football and dance in a choreography full of humor, energy, and team spirit. This internationally acclaimed performance shows that sport and art are much closer to each other than they may appear at first glance.

You can also look forward to a truly exceptional experience on Friday - in a location not typically associated with dance: the National Agricultural Museum. Here, Czech dancer Tomáš Janypka will perform his solo Lonesome Cowboy. In the museum’s industrial setting, an intimate story of loneliness, inner strength, and the search for personal freedom unfolds. Janypka’s distinctive physicality and expressive presence promise a powerful performance that speaks across generations.

“Audiences can expect an intimate statement from a charismatic performer who opens the themes of solitude, searching, and identity with both delicacy and strength. In the unique setting of the Agricultural Museum, his solo gains yet another dimension - an atmosphere that deepens the emotional impact of the work,” invites Jana Ryšlavá.

MOVE Fest has never confined itself to theatre stages alone. Since its beginnings, the festival has brought dance and movement directly into the streets of Ostrava - and this year is no exception. Weather permitting, the 2025 program features four outdoor performances and one curated evening under the open sky.

For example, on Friday the public interventions Serve and Protect by the Norwegian collective Direct Action Theatre will take to the city centre twice - at 12:30 from the New Town Hall and at 16:30 from Masaryk Square. Their movement-based actions are a vivid example of artivism - practices positioned between art and civic activism - reflecting and reframing topics that resonate strongly across society today.

Another outdoor project, the participatory performance Lion’s Den UNLIMITED, will feature students of dance and movement programs who are taking part in this year’s student symposium Arrivals - an international gathering of emerging artists and experts of the European performance scene. Throughout the festival week, they not only attend performances and discussions about artistic practice, but also take part directly in creation, collaboration, and in-the-moment feedback processes.

This three-day artistic and educational conference for students and young movement-based artists - organized by MOVE Ostrava in collaboration with the Czech Dance Network Vize tance - forms one of the professional pillars of this year’s festival. The project responds to current needs within the field, aiming to systematically support education, self-realization, and the professional establishment of the next generation of dancers, performers, and creators.

Together, MOVE Ostrava and Vize tance offer a platform for sharing, inspiration, and professional reflection —-connecting emerging performers with established figures of the field. The goal is to provide young artists with the experience and competencies necessary for entering the professional scene, while also opening space for new impulses that have the potential to enrich contemporary European performing arts.

Nearly thirty students from Czech and Slovak art schools will take part over the course of three days in:

• A creative process with PocketART – together with Johana Pocková and Sabina Bočková, they will rehearse the Ostrava edition of the site-specific project Lion’s Den UNLIMITED, which will culminate in a public presentation as part of the festival’s main program.

  
  

• The curated evening Fresh Dance – MOVE Ostrava’s long-established platform for student choreographies.

  
  

• Pitch sessions – short, focused presentations of their own projects and artistic intentions, followed by professional feedback from invited experts.

  
  

• Discussions and lectures with guest speakers, including Markéta Málková (Vize tance), Lucia Kašiarová (Štúdio tanca Banská Bystrica), and Jaan Ulst (Tartu 2024). This conference segment focuses on the professional pathways for emerging artists and the specifics of entering the contemporary performing arts field. Together with the professional organization Vize tance, the guests will lead Friday’s block of lectures and discussions, offering experience-sharing and strategies for supporting early-career artists.

Students participating in the symposium will also become full festival attendees at MOVE Fest Ostrava 2025. They will have access to the entire festival program — from acclaimed international productions to domestic premieres. For them, it is a rare opportunity to absorb inspiration, encounter current trends in contemporary dance and physical theatre on a European scale, and gain valuable experience that traditional study alone does not usually provide.

Tickets for all festival performances are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis - meaning audiences can choose how much they are able and wish to pay. Several outdoor performances are even completely free to attend. Alongside the artistic program, visitors can also enjoy shared moments — such as the festival campfire by Pavilon, Saturday’s group bike ride, and the festival party with the band Fekete Seretlek.