About me
Welcome to my website, which I'm sure you haven't stumbled upon by accident :) My name is Radka, but I generally prefer to be called "Radus", "Rado", etc... As soon as I hear "Radko", I pay attention and wonder what I've done :D (I got that from my childhood). Anyway, I'm learning to accept "Radko" as well, so I'm sure I won't be angry if you call me that.
I used to have a listing of my dance accomplishments in this section, where I've been to battles, where I've been educated, etc. Honestly, I don't think anyone is interested in reading that. I wouldn't be entertained. So I want to invite you into the story of my life in a different way.
At 17, I fell in love with dance. I had no idea at the time that I could learn to dance, that I could maybe someday teach classes, workshops, and that I could maybe travel. I was working, working on my dream of becoming a dance instructor. I set a goal of being a dancer by the time I was 25. And, worlds, it came true. I want to give credit to the people who have influenced me the most on my journey - Dusan Vlach, who ran Roots Company, and Janci J Jelínková, who I used to train with. Thanks to Dušan for organizing dance workshops (in Ostrava), where I used to go very often. There I learned the basics of street dance and tried dancehall for the first time, a style I fell in love with and call my first love. He also organized Hip Hop Holiday, a dance camp where I went for maybe 5 years and had the best experience. Thank you! I'm grateful to Janci J Jelinek who gave me a lot of her style of dance and expression in it. I practiced dancehall, freestyle and also discovered African dances with her, which she then taught together with Joseph Go. I loved her style and admired how she made her dreams come true. I am grateful and thankful for everything!
I also thank myself for the fact that even when I didn't have confidence and didn't believe in myself, I found a little piece of faith deep down that kept me going! I was able to give myself a life that I will remember for the rest of my life because of it. I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to work hard, make mistakes, have body aches, teach workshops for the first time, teach at dance camps, have my own classes, teach in Brno, teach in Prague, teach all over the Czech Republic, and teach in Hamburg! I'm glad I forced myself to go to battles because it was a great experience. I'm proud of myself that I even won a couple of battles (in dancehall) and that I got to the finals and semi-finals in battles in Lisbon and Hamburg, where I could dance afrohouse and kuduro full of fear and worry about how it would turn out. I've never been a freestyler or a person of extreme confidence. And that was my weakness. I couldn't appreciate myself enough. I can only now see that and admire the old me for all that it has done. I admire how I worked, how I tried to bring people together, how I tried to spread first dancehall and then African dances in our Czech Republic. I admire the energy I put into dancing. I admire how I had trained my technique, how much stamina I had and how many videos and projects I have done. I am happy that I discovered kuduro and afrohouse (I call them my true love, my soul mate), that I fell in love with these styles at the best festival in Poland, Kuduro Mania, and that thanks to these styles I could experience 16 days in Angola, Africa, which was a dream come true and I will never forget it. I'm still living from it today!
Thank you to my cousin Andy, who believed in me in the most difficult moments and gave me the courage to realize the Afros.cz project. Huge thanks also to Hanka, without whom it would not have been possible. I am also grateful that Léňa Méďa Nedvědilová and Ivonka Szantová joined me in Prague. Thanks to them the Afros.cz crew was created and together we were able to spread the love for African dances, create, make videos, dance shows and be fulfilled. Thank you!
Thanks to dancing I also met Alexa Grig, a friend from Romania, with whom we did a lot of dancing. She was a big inspiration to me. I also met my idols in person, namely Blaya, Bolicao and other dancers who were a great inspiration and motivation.
I also loved teaching at Sector studio in Prague, where I met a god woman, Dee Solářová, who is still my friend to this day, with whom I can fool around and we are always there for each other. The Sector period was crucial for me, I built up lessons there that were successful, and I was happy. It was one of the best dance periods because I was invited to a lot of events, workshops and camps and I really appreciate it.
I loved my job and my life. I never wanted to have a "normal job", going to work from 8 to 5 and spending my life doing something that was meaningless. I can't even put into words how grateful I am to have experienced all of this, my job was my hobby and it was my life, I was moving forward and I had what I wanted. Freedom (or at least a certain amount of freedom).
IIn retrospect, however, I must state that I was living a bit of a lie. I didn't like myself very much, I only played with my self-confidence, and emotions and relationships didn't exist for me. I was disconnected from myself. Even from my body, which I overworked a lot, and I suffered a lot from respiratory diseases. I could talk for hours about joint and muscle pain. I just wasn't myself and I tried to follow my vision of how I should look, how I should live and what I still have to achieve. The covid period showed me that I don't know who I am, that if I don't have dance, I'm nobody and nothing... And that's where my journey of self-discovery began.
I experienced a personality crisis, burnout, existential crisis...I don't even know what to call it. But I was completely lost, I didn't know what to do if I can't teach, if I can't do workshops... I struggled for a long time. Even my self-esteem took a beating. I didn't take much care of my body, I thought of myself that I was disgusting, that I was worthless, that I couldn't do anything, that I was a wreck. The first light of hope was sown in me by coach Viki, who was the very first stranger to whom I confided about personal matters and had help. We set up a plan together to find out what I enjoy, what I want to do, and she helped me solve my relationship with myself and my partner.
Based on our cooperation, I signed up for a retraining course at a hairdresser. During this period, I worked at an elementary school as a social worker and teacher's assistant. It was hell for me, the boss was a terrorist and I went home in the evening completely parched and lifeless. I was dying alive. I considered the hairdressing course to be redemption. Honestly, the course was terrible, but I'm glad that I was able to learn something new, that I was able to graduate and I'm glad that I was able to at least get a little peek into the secrets of hair issues. On the course, I met a lady with whom I later set up a hair salon. That didn't happen. Deep down, I knew that I wasn't ready to be a hairdresser, that I didn't want it like this, and moreover, my co-worker didn't suit me, she wasn't reliable, which soon became clear. Anyway, it was an expensive experience that cost me about ten thousand. I was not lazy and signed up for a make-up course at the Make Up Institute Prague. This course really excited me, I enjoyed it a lot, even though I had absolutely no interest in make-up in recent years. I enjoyed the fact that it is a creative job, creative, and I can also help a woman gain self-confidence and give her advice. I also took a bridal make-up course and a few hairstyle courses. I also organized smaller projects where I did makeup for my friends and took photos for my portfolio. I wanted to do make-up and do hair for brides and work with photographers. But I needed money because supplies were getting thin...
I was looking for a job for a long time. It didn't work out very well, but in the end I found an offer for an assistant in a company with hair cosmetics. I'm currently working there but I know it's not fulfilling and it's suffocating me. For certain reasons, I will keep quiet for now about why it doesn't fulfill me and why I don't want to be there. I can reveal that I have simply never been and am not an employee. I want to do on myself and for myself and things that are meaningful to me and that are creative and pure. That is why I am now preparing a dance workshop or course with added value, with an overlap into self-development. I am also preparing for a retraining course where I will learn to lead women's circles. I enjoy rituals, I enjoy the themes of womanhood, I bought the download cards and I am learning to meditate and connect with my inner child. And I also go to therapy, and I'm most grateful for that. I'm happy that thanks to my friend Peter, I managed to get there and that I've come a long way thanks to it. I am learning to let go of limiting beliefs, such as that I am nobody and nothing and will never become anything. Or that I'll be poor and that I can't do what I enjoy in life. Or that I'm not good enough, that no one can love me... I'm working on setting my boundaries, on feeling myself, on recognizing emotions, on expressing them, on communicating in a relationship... There are a million things, but I enjoy it and I want to pass it on and help you too!
There is so much more I could tell. Perhaps I will just say that my partner relationship was and is a great teacher for me, without which I would not have started to discover my patterns from childhood, my dark sides... I would not have started to deal with what I want, what I need, if I were not in a relationship. I wouldn't notice. That's why I thank Peter for coming my way. It's a thorny path, our partnership, but without it I wouldn't be who I am now. And I wouldn't want to take life into my own hands again, create and be authentic and alive!
If you've read this far, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed my story. I also hope that we will meet in person as part of my projects and I look forward to seeing you. And my message: Be yourself! (for gentlemen - stay awake!)
Raduš