“Today’s students are more self-assured; they aren’t afraid to engage in discussion,” says Bohumíra Eliášová, the new head of the Department of Dance

Will this mean any changes for you personally?
Yes, definitely. At the moment, I’m teaching at the Primary Art School and at HAMU, and I’m working on my own creative projects, as well as research and lecturing. I’ll now be devoting more time to my work at the department and will have to adapt my other activities accordingly. But I don’t want to give them up. It’s important for me to remain active outside the academy and to bring these experiences back to the department.

How are you finding the managerial role?
I don’t quite feel like a manager, but it’s true that when I’m creating choreography or other artistic projects, my role is quite similar in terms of its scope. My many years’ experience leading the ‘New Generation’ project – which I founded together with the former head of department, Ivanka Kubicová, and which I now run with one of our graduates, Natálie Matysková – has been good preparation for me. You have to plan, organise people, make sure things actually get done, lead discussions, listen to ideas and put the good ones into practice. At the same time, you have to deal with lots of things on an ongoing basis that you hadn’t planned for at all. In my view, that’s where leading projects and leading the department are quite similar.

You said that the department is in good shape. So how would you like it to be under your leadership?
I don’t plan to make any radical changes; rather, I’d like to continue along the path that’s been set out and which, in my opinion, is working well. The department is home to true professionals, distinctive personalities and experts who understand what they’re teaching the students. At the same time, they’re people who care deeply about the discipline, and I value that greatly. I also think it’s important to be able to respond to how the discipline is changing, to listen to the students, to understand what they need today and what challenges they face.

Only in this way can we consider how to further develop the individual programmes. We need to prepare students for real-life work in a field that is constantly changing, and to think ahead so that they can succeed in it.

What do students need?
Relevance, and a connection to current developments in the field. We have three core disciplines here – dance studies, dance pedagogy and choreography – and in each of them, it is essential to have a solid foundation in one’s own ‘craft’. At the same time, however, we should be open to what is happening on the scene right now and keep an eye on how the various disciplines are evolving. Sometimes I get the feeling that here in the Czech Republic we’re only just catching up with what’s already standard practice elsewhere.

Could you give an example?
If we look at the field of choreography, for example, I think it’s important for students to have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with different approaches to creative work. Not just theatrical choreography, original works and applied choreography, but also to try out other formats such as site-specific and immersive performances, dance films or interdisciplinary projects. Similarly, the study of pedagogy is also evolving. The foundation, of course, remains didactic and methodological knowledge and practical experience with individual dance techniques; at the same time, however, we are opening up to broader movement-based and somatic approaches that go beyond the scope of individual dance techniques.

We are also responding to the changing needs of the profession. For example, we offer a combined degree programme in pedagogy, which includes a specialisation focused on dance and movement education. This will become even more relevant with the introduction of dance education in primary schools. In the Master’s programme in choreography, it is also possible to specialise in dance management. It is therefore not just a matter of expanding the range of courses on offer, but of striving to prepare students for the various forms of professional life that may await them after graduation. We endeavour to monitor the direction in which the field is developing and, accordingly, to supplement the curriculum with areas in which students can apply their skills in practice.

It’s probably very different from when you were a student here almost thirty years ago. Do you wish you were a student today?
I’m always studying! It’s only when you teach that you realise whether you really understand a particular subject. Personally, I feel the need to deepen my knowledge, explore it and put it to the test in practice. But yes, teaching today is very different in many ways from when I was a student. I started my choreography studies at a time when the course wasn’t divided into bachelor’s and master’s levels; we went straight onto the master’s programme and the whole course lasted four years, not five as it does today. We organised the end-of-year performances ourselves – from booking dates at the theatre to promoting the event and sending out invitations. However, I saw the department as an inspiring place that shaped me. This was mainly thanks to my teachers and the people I met at the department, both during my studies and later on. I think that’s precisely what should remain – that the school should be a place where you not only learn something, but where you meet people who influence you in some way.

How has HAMU changed over the past thirty years?
That’s a difficult question. In some respects a great deal, in others not so much. It depends most of all on the personalities working at the school at any given time and the way in which they shape it. During my studies, for example, there were people like Ivanka Kubicová and Ctibor Turba, who were very strong personalities. Today, there are lots of my fellow students or former graduates working at the faculty. It’s brilliant because we know the school, we know what we longed for as students, and now we’re in a position where we can make it happen ourselves.

Have you managed to achieve anything?
Lots of things. Improvisation springs to mind, for example – it’s a great passion of mine. When I was a student, it wasn’t taught at the school at all. The subject was introduced some twenty years ago as an optional module, but it has only become more widespread in recent years. Today, it’s compulsory for the entire second year and is also open to students from other faculties. It’s thus become a place where students of both dance and theatre disciplines meet; filmmakers and musicians also come to improvise. I think opportunities for students to meet across disciplines are very important.

Is there a dialogue between the different disciplines?
Yes. When it comes to the individual disciplines within the dance department, dialogue between them arises quite naturally. Students take part in joint training sessions or workshops where they meet and forge collaborations, for example on year-group performances. If we take a broader view, the various disciplines are gradually becoming interconnected across the entire faculty. One example is the New Generations festival, where one day is dedicated to site-specific projects. As part of this, students ‘take over’ the faculty’s premises and have the opportunity to create works in collaboration with musicians, for example. Within the context of the entire faculty, the HAMU Fest also works very well; it is an event where individual disciplines present their work and students have the chance to meet and experience just how diverse life at HAMU is. I would like to see more and more opportunities like this; I see great potential in them.

Which of the departments has changed the most?
All of them, because society is changing, and with it, the students themselves are changing too. They are more self-confident – in a healthy sense – and aren’t afraid to engage in discussion. I like that they come up with their own ideas and are proactive. It seems to me that today’s students aren’t afraid to speak up, ask questions and find their own path.

Would you like to introduce, for example, a new specialisation or bring in something completely new?
We’re currently preparing a master’s degree programme in choreography for English-speaking students. We have a lot of students coming here on Erasmus for their bachelor’s degrees. They like it here and ask if they could continue their studies.

A distance-learning programme in choreography would also make sense, similar to the one in pedagogy. There are plenty of people who are already working in theatres or various companies; this would allow them to combine their professional practice with their studies. Conversely, the specialisation in dance and movement education – which can currently only be studied via distance learning – would, in my view, also make sense as a full-time programme. It’s all a matter of discussion with colleagues and, of course, the school’s capabilities.

What is currently the biggest challenge for the school?
Let’s be honest, funding is always a challenge in the cultural sector. It also takes time to put changes and ideas into practice. HAMU is a large institution; every proposal goes through an approval process, is subject to all sorts of legal obligations, everything has its own timeline, and the whole process can be quite lengthy.

The Department of Dance at HAMU is the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic. Should there be more?
I can’t say whether it’s a good or bad thing that there’s only one in the Czech Republic. It’s true, however, that there are far more dance conservatoires. There has been a long-standing discussion about the fact that the university lacks, for example, a course in performance, which usually exists abroad. I think it makes sense to consider it, but the school doesn’t currently have the capacity to introduce it.

I wonder whether this somehow reflects the value our society places on dance, and whether that changes over time?
I often think about this, because I create performances for children myself, and in doing so I’m actually influencing the future audience. In my experience, dance is still a bit of a Cinderella here, even though we see it in various forms all around us. When I step outside my own bubble, I still notice that there are a lot of preconceptions associated with dance. At the same time, however, I feel that society’s attitude towards dance is gradually changing for the better. I teach at a primary arts school, where I’ve noticed that parents’ attitudes towards dance are changing through their children. They go to watch their children’s performances, then they might try going to a performance for adults, and eventually they even start attending dance classes regularly.

Bohumíra Eliášová (*1975)

She comes from Jihlava. She studied choreography at the Faculty of Music and Dance of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU) and completed a course for dance teachers at the Duncan Centre Conservatoire in Prague. She also obtained a doctoral degree at HAMU. She served there as secretary and deputy head of the Department of Dance, and has been its new head since the summer of 2026. She teaches at HAMU (choreography, improvisation), at the Klapkova Primary School of the Arts and at other institutions. Improvisation is her passion. As a choreographer, she has created over twenty original productions, a large proportion of which are aimed at young audiences.