Studio ALTA: How an Abandoned Brewery in Libeň Became the Home of Prague's Contemporary Dance

On the left bank of the Vltava, where industrial Libeň meets the quiet streets of old residential blocks, you'll find one of Prague's most nomadic and stubbornly persistent cultural spaces — Studio ALTA. It's not a museum, nor a gallery in the traditional sense: it's a living organism, a multifunctional creative hub devoted above all to contemporary dance and physical theatre, which over nearly two decades has changed addresses three times without ever losing its identity.

ALTA's story began in 2007–2008, when producer Lucia Kašiarová and her partner Petr Vořišek, both then working at Ponec Theatre, felt Prague was lacking proper rehearsal spaces for dancers. Working as a producer at Ponec, Kašiarová realised the city had no real base — no professional rehearsal studio for dancers. The handful of spaces that did exist were booked out in the evenings with training sessions, severely limiting what a professional dancer could actually do. The first studio opened near Hradčanská, on the site where the Blanka tunnel now runs, before the collective moved to industrial halls on Bubenská Street in Holešovice. There the project grew into a sprawling complex of nearly 1,800 square metres across four industrial halls, housing a theatre, two rehearsal spaces for artistic research and creative workshops, an atelier, and shared offices.

The Holešovice era lasted more than a decade and became something of a legend on Prague's independent scene. The studio officially said goodbye to the premises it had occupied for twelve years, making way for redevelopment — the site, as the founders themselves readily admitted, was already "in developers' hands" and destined for demolition sooner or later. In 2020 the collective relocated to the Invalidovna palace in Karlín, where the National Heritage Institute granted it use of an entire west wing, before settling in 2023 at its current home: the historic building of the former Libeň Brewery (Libeňský pivovar) in the Libeň district. Through all these upheavals, the old brewery building has become a new home — for the artists, the visitors, and the people of Libeň alike.

So what's worth seeing here? ALTA's programme is dominated by bold, experimental works of contemporary dance, physical theatre and interdisciplinary performance — everything from residencies for young choreographers to festivals like RespondART, where artists from different countries explore pressing social issues through the body and movement. The informal café, "Obývák" (The Living Room), has become a hub for discussions and cross-disciplinary community gatherings for all generations. It regularly hosts exhibitions by young artists, workshops for parents and children, storytelling evenings around a fire pit, and open platforms where artists can simply share their practice without the pressure of self-presentation.

ALTA's atmosphere carries the genuine spirit of the independent scene, free of gloss or pretension: the brewery's bare brick walls, the creaky wooden floors of former warehouses, a simple café where you can settle in with a laptop, and the sense that you've stumbled not upon a tourist attraction but a living creative laboratory built by artists, for artists and their communities. Studio ALTA is part of the international Trans Europe Halles network, which connects cultural centres built inside former industrial spaces across the continent — and the kinship shows. A similar aesthetic of reimagined industrial heritage can be found in Rotterdam, Helsinki or Barcelona, but in Prague it stands in particularly sharp contrast to the polished tourist sheen of the city centre.

Insider tip: ALTA's schedule has a life of its own and shifts constantly depending on residencies and festivals, so before heading to Libeň, be sure to check the current programme at altart.cz or on GoOut. Box-office tickets go on sale an hour before each performance, but many events can — and should — be booked online in advance.

Address: U Českých loděnic 2158/4, Praha 8 – Libeň (historic Libeňský pivovar building)
Opening hours: the theatre box office opens an hour before each performance; the current event schedule is available at altart.cz and on GoOut
Prices: ticket prices depend on the specific event and are listed separately on the GoOut sales platform

Studio ALTA is the perfect place for anyone tired of postcard Prague who wants to see the city from the inside — through the lens of independent art, industrial architecture, and a living community that, for nearly twenty years, has stubbornly kept searching for a new home, finding one again each time.

See also:

• Národní technické muzeum: Prague's temple of machines, worth switching off your phone and staying for the whole day
• 6 cemeteries in Prague where history and art outweigh grief: a guide to museum-necropolises

Source: aroundprague.cz