Ensemble Hartig / Helena Kazárová
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Helena Kazárová
Helena Kazárová (born Hájková) specialises on the dance culture of the past centuries both practically (reconstruction and revitalisation of the dances from written and graphic notation, choreography and movement culture of the chosen period, pedagogical activity) and theoretically (she is the author of the books Barokní taneční formy/Baroque Dance Forms/, AMU 2005, Barokní balet ve střední Evropě/Baroque Ballet in Central Europe, AMU 2008). In the National Theatre she has participated in the performances of Castor et Pollux (assistant of choreography, dancer), Cyrano de Bergerac, School of Scandal (period movement style), Ballet Mania (choreography). She has created and reconstructed many Baroque dances for various prominent music festivals. She collaborated with film and TV (Bathory of J. Jakubisko, This Hot Summer in Marienbad of M.Cieslar), she created choreography for the Baroque operas Giunone placata of J.J. Fux, Scipione affricano il Maggiore of Caldara among others and in operas La forza della virtù of Pollarolo, Astarto of Bononcini and Alcina of Händel she worked out also the Baroque gestures with the singers and some of the operas she also directed. She staged the Rococo ballet La guirlande enchantée of Joseph Starzer at the Baroque Castle Theater at Český Krumlov and at Mnichovo Hradiště Castle Theater in a world premiere after 250 years. In 1997 she founded the Baroque Dance Ensemble Hartig. She is Assistant Professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Dance Ensemble Hartig
The dance ensemble Hartig performs dances of various historical periods (from late Renaissance to early Romantic era) staged under the artistic leadership of Helena Kazárová, Ph.D. The repertory of the ensemble covers both the ballroom dances and the virtuoso theatre solos and duets from the 16th to the beginning of the 19th Centuries. As first in Czech Republic, Hartig started to study Baroque dances from the authentic sources - that is from the Beauchamp-Feuillet notation and soon reached the international professional level in this field.
The ensemble is often invited to dance at experimental performances at the Baroque Theatre of Český Krumlov Castle and at other historical sites in Bohemia and abroad. Hartig performs with foremost Baroque orchestras (Musica Florea, Capella regia, Ensemble Inégal, Collegium 1704, Hipocondria Ensemble, Hofmusici and others) conductors and in case of chamber programmes also soloists (Edita Keglerová, Julie Braná and others). In special types of cultural venues, also recorded music is used.
