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September 8th, 2008
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Dancing into history

At 95, Zora Šemberová is still a shining star

April 23rd, 2008 issue

By Lucie Rozmánková

JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
Šemberová danced "the undanceable" in the 1938 world premiere of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
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Staff Writer
The legendary Czech ballerina Zora Šemberová was in Prague recently for the launch of her biography, Na šťastné planetě (On a Happy Planet), which coincided with her 95th birthday. Šemberová also received an award from Culture Minister Václav Jehlička, the Artis Bohemiae Amicis (Friend of Czech Art), for lifetime achievements in dance and her work promoting Czech culture abroad.
This memorable event at the National Theater was another step in acknowledging an important arts figure whose career was disrupted by the communist era. Šemberová is one of the last living links to the once-proud tradition of Czechoslovak dance.
Brought up by modern-thinking parents in Brno, south Moravia, Šemberová left her hometown at the age of 17 to study ballet in Paris with the famous Russian dancer and teacher Olga Preobrazhenskaya. She became much more than a traditional ballerina. Šemberová was an artist striving for true expression, with a yearning to offer comprehensive portraits of characters. Looking to enliven the academic approach to ballet, she left Paris to study in Austria with Rosalia Chladek, one of the key figures of dance expressionism.
Šemberová made history by dancing the part of Juliet in the world premiere of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, which took place in Brno in December 1938. Passing through the hands of many choreographers, it became one of the most popular ballets of the 20th century. Šemberová’s interpretation of Ivo Váňa Psota’s choreography for the Brno production was a prophetic achievement, as the score had originally been derided by Russian ballerina-assoluta Galina Ulanova as “undanceable.”
By that time, Šemberová had already secured a place in dance history with an earlier performance in Brno, as the muse Calliope in Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagete. The 1933 production was the first mounted after the work’s world premiere in Paris in 1928.
But Šemberová cites neither of these when asked about her greatest work. “The role of my life was Viktorka,” she says.
Viktorka is an original Czech ballet based on the story by Božena Němcová of a village girl who becomes schizophrenic after giving birth and kills her baby. This ballet gave Šemberová a chance to show her incredible expressionist ability, and left an indelible mark. “I received several letters during my [recent] stay in Prague remembering my Viktorka,” she says.
The 1950 choreography was done by Czech choreographer Saša Machov. Šemberová remembers him asking her whether she would choose to be Juliet or Viktorka.
“Juliet,” she replied.
“But you are the embodiment of Viktorka,” Machov told her.
“That was enough to convince me to dance the role,” Šemberová recalls.
She had a memorable experience trying to research the role. “I went to seek advice from a psychiatric specialist,” she says. “He didn’t believe that I really wanted to see and observe his patients. But, after seeing the premiere, he wrote me a letter saying that he could not imagine what more I could gain from such observation. To me, that letter was the best review I ever got in my life.”
Telling the truth
Šemberová’s achievements are not limited to the stage. She taught for many years at the Prague Dance Academy, where one of her pupils was the world-famous expat Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián, who recalls Šemberová as his favorite teacher. He has talked about her in numerous interviews, and even wrote the introduction to her book.
“He was a very nice boy with extraordinary musical sensitivity,” Šemberová says.
After the Soviet invasion in 1968, Šemberová emigrated to Australia, where she taught dance and pantomime at Flinders University in Adelaide. She still lives in Australia, and enjoys it so much that when asked where she feels more at home, replies, “Both places are my home, the Czech Republic and Australia.”
Meeting with Šemberová on a snowy spring morning, I was greeted by a smiling, shining woman. It was hard to believe that she just turned 95. Šemberová has a clear mind, a good memory, a lively sense of humor and sharp opinions. She mentioned her anger and disappointment over the outcome of the recent presidential election in the Czech Republic. But she also expressed a desire to return to Prague to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Asked how it felt to launch her biography here after so many years in exile in Australia, Šemberová said, “It is a nice feeling, I found work on it natural and easy, because I was telling the truth and I accept reality as it is.”
The book is a treat to read. Šemberová comes across as bright, open and witty, and describes in detail how the Czechoslovak artistic environment changed after 1948 and 1968. The book is also an exciting personal story of an extraordinary woman who inspired many artists, including Bohuslav Martinů, who wrote the role of Mariken in Hry o Marii (The Miracles of Mary) for her.
Meeting with Šemberová was also a reminder of how much great original Czech choreography has been lost. Other culturally aware nations nurture and care about their dance traditions, fostering a national style and reconstructing key ballets. Though the Czechs have quite a long and developed tradition of ballet, for some reason they seem not to care about preserving it.
Machov’s and Psota’s ballets were intentionally forgotten by the communists, who deemed them unsuitable for socialist programming. But revivals remain rare today, and not only from the pre-war era. Even ballets created by Pavel Šmok are hard to see.
Šemberová is not a fan of reconstructing old ballets. “You cannot step twice in one river,” she says. “You cannot repeat the experience.”
In some respects, that may be true. But, in honoring this very special woman, Czechs paid tribute to their own culture, at least in moral terms.

Lucie Rozmánková can be reached at lrozmankova@praguepost.com 


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