{"id":85393,"date":"2018-03-20T12:42:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T11:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=85393"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:58","slug":"dit-ben-ik-marketa-kafkova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/03\/20\/dit-ben-ik-marketa-kafkova\/","title":{"rendered":"This is me: Mark\u00e9ta Kafkov\u00e1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Biggest passion.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve always loved moving and being on a big stage. From a very young age,\u00a0I loved watching and recording music videos and practising the movements I saw. But in the small town where I grew up, an hour to the north of Prague, there weren\u2019t many dance opportunities and I was\u00a0one\u00a0of the few kids at the dance school who regarded it more than just a hobby.\u00a0I made lots of friends there and it definitely gave me a great deal of basic knowledge and skills, but I didn\u2019t see myself growing there.<\/p>\n

When I had a chance, I went to dance summer camps to learn more, but that was only for a short period in the summer.\u00a0The breakthrough happened at the age of 19 when I moved to the capital to study for my Bachelor degree and also applied to do an audition at the Dance Academy Prague, eventually becoming part of the leading competition team. I was \u2018hungry\u2019 for new experiences and opportunities in a big city, so I joined all kinds of classes, from ballet to street dance. So people started noticing me and inviting me to do some dance, fashion, and later even TV shows and music videos. And that\u2019s how I became part of the professional dance team \u201cJAD Dance Company\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201dWe had a big success last year winning the National Dance Championship\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Student, teacher and a dancer.\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>At the same time, I was also studying for a Bachelor of International Studies, which is similar to International Relations and Diplomacy. Although, I managed to graduate successfully, I didn\u2019t really like the university. It was a really broad and mass-oriented programme and my focus was mostly on dance. The reason I still decided to pursue a Master\u2019s degree was to get a better study experience, with a more personalised approach. Moreover, I was always interested in media, the industry\u00a0I already worked in\u00a0because of dance. During the master programme, I\u2019ve learned to organise my time efficiently, combine and prioritise different jobs and studies. Although it was difficult at the beginning because before coming Rotterdam,\u00a0I lived in Taiwan for three months. The country\u2019s mentality is very calm and peaceful, so the first month in the Netherlands required some adapting to a more stressful and competitive society.<\/p>\n

Back at home, I am a tutor\u00a0of the junior team\u00a0at\u00a0Dance Academy Prague. Training mostly for competitions, we had a big success last year winning the National Dance Championship. But I also try to facilitate their own personal development and individual dance style. As part of JAD Dance Company, I also do commercial gigs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dance in Rotterdam.<\/strong> \u201cThere\u2019s a really good dance studio called \u2018Hip Hop Huis\u2019 and some of the best street dancers in Europe teach there, which fascinates me. Besides going to events there, I also enjoy the club scene in Rotterdam. Since I arrived in January, I\u2019ve been to dance-able cafe MONO and jazz bar BIRD, where they play really good house and funk music. Also, the rooftop bar called Suicide Club is great, even though it is a little more fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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