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November 2019
The Cunning Little Vixen
Inspired by a newspaper comic strip, the Welsh National Opera’s colourful production is charming, funny and profound in equal measure. It reunites director, David Pountney with WNO music director, Tomas Hanus who conducts Janacek’s blend of folk-like music and sophisticated orchestrations, gloriously evoking the vibrancy of nature. One afternoon deep in the forest, the forester stumbles across a young vixen, and takes her home as a pet for his family. But this playful creature has bigger plans and escapes to…
Find out more »Theatre on the Balustrade: Velvet Havel
Václav Havel - the dramatic genius, the persecuted dissident, the man of truth and ideals but also a lover of good beer and pretty women. A portrait of the first post-1989 Czech president presented as a modern-day musical, Velvet Havel is a multi-award-winning production from the cult Prague Theatre on the Balustrade. The title refers to the memorable Velvet Revolution that took place in Autumn 1989 in then Czechoslovakia, and this unique cabaret-style musical, in repertoire since 2014, presents the…
Find out more »Generation ’89. Witness Testimony from Czechoslovakia’s 1989 Revolution
Bringing together those who made the 1989 revolution in Czechoslovakia. Expert testimony, analysis and discussion in front of a live audience. Held in the historic Temple of Peace, Cardiff Marking 30 years, one generation, since the end of Communist Party rule in Czechoslovakia. Leading figures from Czechoslovakia’s 1989 revolution reunite and remember how it was. Recording of the witness testimony to be deposited afterwards in the Czechoslovak Special Collection held at Cardiff University. Free registration to this unique event via…
Find out more »The Last Train to Tomorrow
a talk by Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE Lady Milena was born in Czechoslovakia in 1929. Her father was recommended to leave Czechoslovakia the day before the Nazis invaded because he was both Jewish and a supporter of an anti-Nazi author. He was able to escape but left his wife and children behind. When she was nine years old, Lady Milena and her younger sister Eva were able to leave Prague on a special train, arranged by Nicholas Winton who saved…
Find out more »Europe and the Velvet Revolution – 30 Years On
In November the Dash Café will explore the impact of the 1989 revolution that caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, 30 years on. Through the prism of artists, filmmakers and writers from across Czech Republic and Slovakia, we explore whether that extraordinary spirit of activism still exists today. Speakers including actress and director Tereza Nvotova and writers Zuzana Kepplova and Marek Sindelka will discuss the impact of this legacy on their work and whether it continues to have an…
Find out more »Everywhen – Sona Feriencikova
Everywhen orbits around two sides of life – the personal and the political. An often caring, gentle and well-meaning personal life is contrasted here with the reality of the social individual, who can often be sinister, vengeful and hateful. But how can we be critical to our own worldviews when they are created by those closest to us? This international collective whirls together new music, movement and imagery in an intermedial performance on history’s endless rotation. Performer, concept: Sona Feriencikova…
Find out more »BCSA 28th annual dinner
Our twenty eighth annual dinner will be held on Friday 29 November in the heart of Bloomsbury. This highlight in the BCSA calendar is a wonderful opportunity for Slovaks, Czechs and Britons to mingle in a convivial atmosphere, to meet old friends and make new ones. Members and non-members alike will be made welcome at a drinks reception, enjoy a three-course dinner with wine and hear the results of our annual writing competition. Nick Archer, British Ambassador to the Czech…
Find out more »Concert of Czech music performed by the Richmond Duo
Moshe Friedman, cello Margaret Bruce, piano with David Lewis, baritone PROGRAMME: TUCAPSKY: Cello Sonata (written for Moshe Friedman and Margaret Bruce) JANACEK: “In the Mist” for solo piano JANACEK: “Fairy Tale” for cello and piano INTERVAL TUCAPSKY: Meditation on an old folksong (written for Moshe Friedman) TUCAPSKY: Piano prelude no 19 (from the 24 Preludes written for Margaret Bruce) MARTINU: Sonata no 1 for cello and piano DVORAK: Gypsy Songs MARGARET BRUCE is Canadian. She grew up in Vancouver and…
Find out more »December 2019
From the village to the city: urbanisation in Slovakia, 1896-1972
In his talk, Dr Lorman will explore how Slovak culture was initially characterised by its rural quality and alienation from the beginnings of mass industrialisation and urbanisation in Hungary (exemplified by the 1896 millennial celebrations in Budapest). He will examine how Slovak national identity was then substantially (but not entirely) transformed by similar processes of induustrialisation and urbanisation in Czechoslovakia, symbolised by the post-war rebuilding of Bratislava and the opening of the new SNP Bridge in 1972. …
Find out more »BCSA “Get to Know You” Social Evening
Join us and have a fun evening chatting to friendly people. Czech and Slovak food and drinks are available from the restaurant and bar. Anybody with Czech or Slovak connections or interests is welcome to our monthly socials to meet, chat and get to know each other a little better in a relaxed and informal gathering. We usually have about a dozen people there at various times during the evening but, whatever the number, there will be good conversations for…
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