Quick Confession - Jitka Schneiderová: I am being brought up by my daughter and her generation

What awaits you this year and where can we see you?

I still play in several shows in Studio DVA, sometimes I sing in the musical The Soap Prince. And my favorite performance My Tango, that had an opening night about a year ago with Roman Zach and Karel Mařík, who plays live harmonica throughout the whole show, is an experience I always look forward to. You are all cordially invited. I'm going to rehearse a new performance and shoot a movie this summer.

Would you take a role in My Tango if you haven't had any previous experience in Stardance?

Since the rehearsal came after the show Stardance and I was in great shape… But Tango is a drama in which elements of dance are embedded. Logically, however, the choreographer Petra Parvoničová built it so that we can play it for the next five years or longer and in a situation where we are no longer in training lectures.

Choreography is great, we dance, but it's not a top-level dance. I'd go into it without participating in Stardance, because I have taken some dancing lectures at school while I was studying acting. Dance dispositions are genes inherited from parents. And a dance number can always be built for a particular person. We had trainings and rehearsals, and when you have a good movement memory, the body will remember and get used to it.

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After Stardance, you did a lot of dance projects with Marek.

That was wonderful. We organized a charity evening Thanks to dance in Lucerna and supported the theme of foster care and foster families. I'll never forget that evening! Now in the new year we are convening again with Marek. I don't know what it will be, but both of us suddenly said "let's train" because I miss it.

You might miss it, but Marek maybe not so much…

Marek just said he needs to train. It is probably because we are such project people. We'll see what comes out of it. Without projects I'm quite lazy.

You just told me you had training today...

It is necessary to start again after some days off. The movement makes me feel good, but the moment between packing the exercise bag, getting out of the apartment and arriving at the place is challenging. If I get back in shape and prepare a dance number with Marek, we'll definitely perform it somewhere. But only when I look good. (laughter)

I suppose it will be again with a charity overtone.

Also, but we can also perform with it. We will just figure things out.

You're very active in charity. Where did it come from and what caught your heart?

I have been working with the foundation Looking for Parents for over eight years now. And since I got so much good energy in Stardance and I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to bring this joy and energy back to something. This was the evening of Thanks to Dance, where dancers and friends from various ranks of Stardance danced, as well as ballet professionals and children. We had an incredible evening and collected over two million crowns for foster families.

The foster parents deserve great admiration and support. It is a great thing if someone offers their home, love and care to a child who, for serious reasons, cannot grow up with their biological mother. One embrace with unconditional love is the basis for the healthy development of every child. After all, every child has the right to grow up in the family. Supporting fostering in our country, foster family and changing the system so that children under three years of age are not placed in infant homes is my topic, my heart matter.

Is there a story that really caught your heart?

There are so many. Great documentary series Parents forever, filmed by Olga Špátová, that you can watch in the archive of the Czech Television. Women naturally tend more towards foster care, but I also admire men who participate in the change of family life, take care of another child and act accordingly.

Didn't you think you'd become a foster parent yourself?

I made videos for the foundation We Are Looking for Parents, where the main topic was “What does family mean to you”. I approached friends from the industry, but also Vladimir 518, Radek Laci, a fitness trainer who is very committed to educating on what it means when a child grows up in a children's home because he has experienced it himself.

Everyone recalled childhood experiences and described them. It was terribly strong. We named the spot “Every child has the right to grow up in the family” and it was screened at the Karlovy Vary festival, where Jiří Bartoška and Moët & Chandon received us as part of a charity toast for a good cause.

When we released the spot, we were given the opportunity to play it for two weeks in all CineStar cinemas throughout the country before each film, we presented it also at the Slavonice Film Festival and at the Poděbrady Music Festival. It was incredible and encouraging. It makes sense to draw attention and talk about difficult topics, because we don't care. I am very grateful to all who worked on the spot. Big thank you goes also to those who helped us for it to be seen.

And yes, at the Karlovy Vary festival, journalists asked me if I would be a foster parent myself. So far I answer that I do not know. All I know now is that I want to help educate and communicate what needs to be changed. I have another job, so I try to help at least like this.

I liked one of your Instagram statuses, wondering how your daughter and her peers are thinking about global change, global warming and the impact on our planet…

Actually, I move thanks to her among her friends. And this generation sees ecology very fundamentally. They really talk about it, they are interested in it, trying to behave with their actions to be ecological, friendly to our planet. They say, "What will the planet look like for our children?"

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We sort waste, that goes without saying. When we go somewhere, Sofia reminds me of a plastic coffee cap and asks if I really need it. I suggested buying some food boxes when we buy food home because there is a lot of waste. And Sofia told me it was a great idea and she would get them. This is how the new generation reacts.

Instagram and other social networks in general are powerful media. So, I just wait when for the moment when it all goes down, but it is sensational to post important topics.

Did you discuss at home the current fires in Australia?

We watched the news, read some information online. I felt deep sadness, it totally got me. But one cannot be completely shaken, and all a person can do is help reasonably. One can donate some money, if possible, and then usually people start to think about the harmful things we do, and so on. But it is difficult.

Where are you going to travel this year?

I don't know yet, because I'm working on some projects now and I need to set them up to run in the right direction. It's just January, so I'm waiting for scheduling of some working dates. Then we will see.

What about your love life, are you satisfied?

You know, I'm not talking about privacy, but thanks for asking, I'm happy.

Jitka, thanks for the interview.