Moving Still 

"Moving Still" is an installation which was initiated by the press 
officer of the Prague National Ballet Kateřina Hanáčková, and 
premiered in Prague in June 2024. It is a complex experience. 
Nine sculptures in public space, next to the National Theatre, 
infinitely many stories of all people involved, and some very 
simple questions: "Where are we..? Are we inside, or outside? 
Are we still moving or are we still..? 
Total stillness doesn't exist - but beauty - certainly..!
The installation Moving Still  opened on June 26, 2024 on the 
Václav Havel Square in Prague. The opening was preceded by an 
exclusive program at the National Theatre curated by Jiří Kylián. 
The program included films: Schwarzfahrer, Scalamare, Between 
Entrance and Exit and Car-men, and dance interludes between 
the films. The Czech actor Jiří Lábus, the Norwegian jazz 
trumpetist and composer Nils Petter Molvær and more than 50
dancers and actors guided the audience through the interludes 
between the films.

  
Jiří Kyllián about his project: 

"I asked eight dancers I've worked with for many years if they 
would agree to be digitally scanned naked in three dimensions, 
printed life-sized, and exhibited as part of my installation 
entitled "Moving Still". They all agreed. Lorraine Blouin, 
Cora Kroese, Valentina Scaglia, Shirley Esseboom, David 
Krügel, Ken Ossola, Stefan Żeromski, and Michael Schumacher. 
I've always been fascinated not only by movement but also by 
the question whether we are inside or outside space of a space. 
That's why my sculptures are both inside and outside, sometimes 
passing through... and yes, their bodies are sliced in two. 
I began working on this project in October 2021 when the 
pandemic hit, and we were not allowed to move. That's why 
I named this installation Moving Still. They are sculptures 
of real dancers cut in half, flying between being and non-being 
and their bodies carry the scars of life. But that wasn't the 
only source of my inspiration. It was also the "statues" of 
people who died in Pompeii after the eruption of Mount 
Vesuvius in 79 AD. They perished 1945 years ago, but we 
are still deeply moved by their immobility..."

Jiří Kylián - Den Haag, January, 2024