Vivat Messi at Kenya International Theatre Festival
The Vivat Messi performance was produced by the Spitfire Company, the TANEC PRAHA Festival and the Hybernia Theater. It premiered in June 2024, but already from 2023 intensive residencies and workshops with future performers took place. One such residency took place in Nairobi, Kenya. And one of the main performers, Austin Maina, was recruited from it.
From April to June 2024 Spitfire Company hosted two freestylers Austin Maina and Martin Kibera. Together, they participated in the preparation of the family multi-genre project VIVAT MESSI, which the Spitfire Company ensemble prepared for Czech and Kenyan audiences over the age of ten. The author’s project of Miřenka Čechová and Petr Boháč, inspired by the story of Martin Kibera, brings a theatrical story about determination, will and about how important it is to have your hero in your childhood and to follow your dream. Both Kenyan performers presented themselves at the Czech premiere on 19th of June in the Hybernia Theater, where they joined the freestyle football world champion Daniel Pražák, the dancer Tara Troupe and the musician badfocus on stage. They will then rehearse with the Spitfire Company ensemble and the Kenyan team in their homeland for the Kenyan debut in November premiere of VIVAT MESSI at the National Theater in Nairobi and an outdoor version in nearby villages.
Vivat Messi will be performed at the National Theater of Kenya as part of the Kenya International Theater Festival on November 6 and 7, 2024, as well as an outdoor version in the villages around Nairobi on November 8-11. This is a unique Czech-Kenyan project that has no comparison in the history of the Spitfire Company. It is not only a presentation of Czech dance art abroad, but an artistic exchange of experiences.
The goal of Spitfire Company’s collaboration with the Kenyan National Theater is to deliver a finished performance that, regardless of Czech participation, would continue to perform, educate and motivate children in the need for personal development and belief in their own dreams. The theatrical premiere will be followed by an outdoor tour of Kenyan towns and villages, where children do not normally have the opportunity to see the theater.
The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union through the National Recovery Plan and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
