Telocvičňa

Telocvičňa – Dance Residency Center is a former gym that contains the basic facilities and equipment necessary for dance and movement. It has served as a non-commercial, residential space for professional dance makers since 2016 in the preparation phase of works and for their day to day training. It is integrated into the premises of Nová Cvernovka, a prominent cultural hub (with ateliers and theatre/concert space) in Bratislava, but operates independently. Since 2018, PlaST has been coordinating its functioning, residency activities, international cooperation, research, and at the same time striving to improve its facilities as well as providing educational programmes aimed at the wider public. Despite its makeshift nature (a need to undergo larger renovation works), Telocvičňa has quickly become an important hub in Slovakia and the wider region for dozens of dance and performance artists. It strives to support established artists as well as the younger generation, and underlines the importance of intergenerational cooperation. Currently it contributes to the strengthening of the dance community, it is an important continuity protecter in the time of pandemics as well as financial crisis. A tool for strengthening the links between the different actors, but it is also a space for dance educational activities for the wider public.

In 2021, thanks to the support of the Slovak Arts Council and the support of the Cultural Fund of City of Bratislava as well as the efforts of the dance artists themselves, the adjacent space underwent a basic renovation, giving the space the facilities for an office, 2 storage rooms, a shower room, and a kitchen/brainstorming area. It is collaborating with the Bratislava self-governing region on a project aiming to bring contemporary dance to elementary and high school students and seniors in the Bratislava region. Since 2021, it has been running a Residency programme, which includes supporting progressive work by local and international teams, and is also running a regional research project with partners from Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, focusing on the link between art and science in the climate change issue Nature of Us.