workshop Odolnosť v tanci

Resilience in dance
(Paulína Šmatláková, Lukáš Bobalik)

8/11/2025, 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Gym - residential center for dance

Workshop Resilience in dance is a psychophysical practice aimed at developing physical, mental and emotional balance through somatic approaches to movement in the present dancing. It explores how resilience can be cultivated not through strength and tension, but through flexibility, adaptability and curiosity towards one's own body. The practice seeks a balance between performance, relaxation and body care. The goal is to deepen the ability of self-regulation, internal focus, psychohygiene strategies and renewal of creativity in artistic and pedagogical practice.
The workshop represents the first phase of joint research leading to future choreographic collaboration on the production Povolené prečerpanie. It originates in the dialogue between Paulína Šmatláková and Lukáš Bobalik – two dancers whose generations resonate, but whose movements contrast. The joint practice is based on the tension between lightness and muscularity, minimum and maximum effort. Two bodies with different physical architecture, rhythm of work and type of challenges seek support in a process reminiscent of movement "sparring".

The event was created thanks to the financial support of the Bratislava Self-Governing Region.

practical info:
Lunch break: in the foyer of the Gym connected with the sharing of current topics related to the variability of the dance profession.
Each participant provides meals separately.
Bring warm, comfortable clothes.
The workshop is intended for everyone interested in contemporary dance.

About the lecturers:
Paulína Šmatláková, a dance artist, graduated in Contemporary Dance at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. In the years 2017-2020, she worked in the Danish ensemble Holstebro Dansekompagni, where she collaborated with choreographers Ben Wright, Marie Brolin-Tani, Jason Mabana and Tina Tarpgaard. She later became an assistant choreographer, tour manager and head of rehearsals. In Slovakia, she performed in the productions Charon (Radoslav Piovarči), Sen (Lucia Holinová) and The Urge (TANEČNO collective). In 2023, she founded the artistic association GIPALI Productions, based in Copenhagen. She is part of international projects in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and has been working for a long time as a performer and assistant with the dance company BURKICOM under the direction of Jana Burkiewicz in Prague.

Lukáš Bobalik is a graduate of Eva Jaczová Conservatory and VŠMU in Bratislava, where he currently works as a doctoral student. As a performer, he participated in the productions of other choreographers (d-BODY-m, Inbetween, Endless Shift, Sen) and is the author of movement collaboration in theater productions (Búrlívé výšyny in DJP Trnava and Hamlet in Prešporský divadle). Lukáš Bobalik's work is characterized by an innovative connection of functional movement and dance, with an overlap into sports and working with objects. It examines the issue of the psychophysical readiness of male and female dancers with a special emphasis on the sustainability of a dance career in a freelance profession. He is the founder of the T-O-K platform, whose ambition is to develop and popularize contemporary dance in Slovakia and point out the specific needs and aspects of the work of a professional dancer.