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KAZDANZ is a performance group. We have
dances choreographed on us by professional
dancers, and we also compose our own dances.
Thanks to the Arts Council of England, we now
have a wardrobe of dancewear as well as our own
stage lighting especially designed for dance.

Twenty-two members of Kazdanz accompanied by 3 chaperones and two choreographers left
by Go Airlines from Bristol. We were met at Prague Airport by Counsellor Brian Smedley and
taken by coach to the very comportable hotel Melouna where we found pizzas waiting for us. We
settled into our rooms very quickly.

The following day after a late "brunch" Counsellor Smedley gave us a walking tour of Prague
along with a relevant commentary. We all coped quite well with the minus twenty degree
temperature having been warned in advance about an East European winter

Towards evening we returned to the hotel, picked up our
baggage and boarded a coach for Moravske Budejovice, a
country town about three hours drive east of Prague. Blanka
Soukupova our host travelled with us. On arrival we were
housed at the Hotel Stern which was opened out of season
especially for us. We were put in rooms in twos or threes,
each with its own television and bathroom. The staff were
very kind to us an even provided extra rehearsal space for the
evenings

Our week in Moravske Budejovice was very busy. We
danced, visited local towns, castles, legislative buildings, art
gallaries and so on. We were even given lessons in the
Czech language! In addition to all this we worked hard in the
creation of two joint dances with the Czech dance company,
S-Dance (three hours each day).

On the last full day we performed our own and the two joint
dances to a large audience of school children in the morning,
and in the evening to a capacity audience of adults.

Blanka Soukupova had planned the activites of the week very
well, and although we were all tired nobody really wanted to go
home. In fact this was a brilliant exchange in all respects, and
the hosting school pulled out all stops to make us welcome.

We will never forget the kindness of the Czech people or their
beautiful country. We were impressed by everybody: the staff
and headmaster at the school, all the members of S-Dance,
the ordinary people of the town itself, but above all we are very
grateful to Blanka and her team for giving us an experience that
we will never forget.

We have recently been awarded a grant of �3,580 by the Arts Council of England through the
Awards for All Programme. This is for more costumes and material, choreography, dance
company workshops. This will make a huge difference to our programme for the next season.

We have also been awarded nearly �7,000 by the Youth Connect Programmeof the British
Council. This is to host the dancers from Aizkraukle, Latvia. We visited them last February, and
now they are coming to us. We hope that with this generous grant we can give everybody, both the
Latvians and Kazdanz , a very memorable week. Both groups have appointed organising
committees of young people to arrange an exciting programme.

This was an event sponsored by the mayor of Highbridge/Burnham-
on-Sea which took place during February at King Alfred Community
School. Many of the youth groups demonstrated their particular
interest. Kazdanz prepared a booth and showed some videos, and
also performed several dances. There was a nice atmosphere during
the evening during which all the various groups shared their
enthusiasms. It was a lot of fun and we hope that this will become a
regular event.

Seventeen members of Kazdanz and four chaperones spent nearly a week in Latvia as guests of a traditional
dance group in the town of Aizkraukle, a town built thirty years ago when Latvia was part of the Soviet Union.

We flew to Riga by Ryanair where we were met by Baiba Svenca and members of the tradition dance group.
They took us to Aizkraukle by coach. On our late arrival at Aizkraukle we were shown to our rooms in the
newly- built Aizkraukle School Hostel where there were generous snacks, soft drinks and so on waiting for us.
The rooms were very comfortable and we were very happy with them.

The first morning we attended English classes where we answered questions about life in England, and
compared fashion and music tastes. This was followed by a day of dance during which we were taught a
Latvian folk dance. At the end of the day we attended a disco that was attended by young Latvians from
Aizkraukle School.

Each of the following days was filled with exciting activities.
There was literally not a dull moment. Some of these
activities included ice-skating, a visit to the Aizkraukle hydro-
power plant, snow sports in a nearby national park, a
volleyball tournament, dance every day, a major public
performance with our Latvian friends and some Russian
dancers, a traditional Latvin sauna, games and food and a
farewell disco.

The final day featured a day in
Riga beginning with a tour of
the old town, a visit to the
famous Lido, and ended with
three hours of shopping. We
were then taken to the airport
by coach accompanied by
Baiba Svenca, the Latvian
leader, along with a number of
our new Latvian friends.

In summary, the exchange was professional and in full accordance with the
aims of the European Youth Travel Programme on which it was modelled.
Members of Kazdanz without exception were hugely influenced by their
experience. Some concluded that "Latvia was better than England", but
everybody was impressed by the Latvians themselves. We were particularly
impressed by the good manners of the Latvian boys who gave up their seats
for us at the disco, and opened doors for us. A good illustration of this is when
the Kazdanz girls were heading for the Community Centre on the way to the
public performance; a group of boys came out of the shadows and quietly
presented each of the girls with rose buds. After only a few words the boys
then walked on the other side of the road also on their way to the theatre.

The exchange was very demanding for all of the participants, but equally
it was very rewarding and enjoyable.

We are looking forward to welcoming the Latvians when they come to us
in September. We hope that we can give them as rich and as
memorable an experience as they gave to us.

THANK YOU - WE LOVE LATVIA ! ! !