Jaja Vankova’s RUR Mentorship Program
Rossum’s Universal Robots (RUR) was founded by Jaja Vankova, March 21st, 2017. This is a space where will be studying street dance, different styles, movement, body control and how it relates to you individually. How to find your strengths and weaknesses and how to take that in your advantage. You will be studying creativity, musicality, timing, techniques, mindset, health, food, nutrition, but also management, marketing, dance business and beyond. Everything that it takes to explore your own mind and body and how to use that for a long term successful career.
WE ARE RUR
WE ARE RUR
DISCOVER HISTORY BEHIND THE NAME
R.U.R. is a 1920 science fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots). However, the English phrase Rossum’s Universal Robots had been used as the subtitle in the Czech original. It premiered on 25 January 1921 and introduced the word “robot” to the English language and to science fiction as a whole. R.U.R. quickly became famous and was influential early in the history of its publication. By 1923, it had been translated into thirty languages.
The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people, called roboti (robots), from synthetic organic matter. They are not exactly robots by the current definition of the term; they are living flesh and blood creatures rather than machinery and are closer to the modern idea of clones, they may be mistaken for humans and can think for themselves. They seem happy to work for humans at first but a robot rebellion leads to the extinction of the human race.
R.U.R. is dark but not without hope and was successful in its day in both Europe and North America. The play introduced the word robot, which displaced older words such as “automaton” or “android” in languages around the world. In an article in Lidové noviny Karel Čapek named his brother Josef as the true inventor of the word. In Czech, robota means forced labour of the kind that serfs had to perform on their masters’ lands and is derived from rab, meaning “slave”. The name Rossum is an allusion to the Czech word rozum, meaning “wisdom”, “intellect” or “common-sense”. R.U.R. Alliance stands for the hard work and wisdom.
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
WHAT OUR FRIENDS SAY:
I’ve never trained under a mentor before but I’ve always wanted one who can teach me more than just dance techniques because I think it take more than techniques to become a great dancer. In R.U.R., just in 3 months I’ve gained a lot. The way the task is programmed makes me search for knowledge in my own will & have freedom to do more too! There’s various tasks that actually makes me excited to know what’s next and what other things I needed to know & importantly, discipline. The task is well organised, well sectioned & the best thing is Jaja has a lot of attention & focus on her students. I appreciate that a lot since of course it takes energy & time & it’s not easy to do so for a long period of time. This training is not only going to make my dance better but also male me a better person overall with deeper understanding of myself & what I’m doing. Thankful fo this, you’re a great teacher Jaja!
Natalie - Indonesia
When I first met Jaja & she asked me to be apart of R.U.R. I was extremely excited. I had left high school when I was 16 & so a year & a half of being out of school I was working really hard towards my goals. It was still really hard feeling like I was going in the right direction, even though I had so much belief in my own potential. R.U.R. has helped me give this stability & accountability that I had lost by leaving the education system. But the difference is everything I feel accountable to do for R.U.R. is all things that are pushing me towards my goals & dreams.
R.U.R. is one of the most special things I’ve ever had the privilege to be apart of. The nature of R.U.R. is unlike most companies, teams, business or crews. R.U.R. is an alliance so it really does feel like a partnership. Everyone has something they bring to the table in order to help the brand, Jaja & each other.
Lily - Canada
Through the recovery process of VBS (spinal stapling) as a child, I questioned if I would ever be able to develop my passion for dancing. During recuperation, upon watching Season 6 on ABDC, I saw Jaja dance for the first time, it was like nothing I had seen before. Here I recognized Jaja was surely something special; I followed her work from that day forward. Fast forward six years later... I saw she was teaching a class in my area - This same class is the time that allowed me to connect with Jaja to later be put on her creative artist production and training, R.U.R. And this isn’t the best part. Jaja, my most pivotal inspiration, turned out to be someone I could genuinely and deeply connect with, as real people. I consider her family, a humble leader, and a remarkable example of a strong woman. R.U.R. is a greater understanding of creative freedom, endless knowledge, a tool that birthed fearlessness inside me, and of course, a serious blessing.
Ray - USA