Preview: Frida

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best," said Frida Kahlo, the Mexican surrealist painter whose short and very complicated life has inspired many films and theater adaptations since her death in 1954. A new ballet at the Estates Theater can now be added to this list of homages.

Of Kahlo's 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits, often incorporating symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds. She insisted, "I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality." Now the life story of a woman who was endowed with extraordinary intelligence and a versatile artistic talent, but was also affected by misfortune and suffering, has become the subject for the choreographer and director of the Moravian Theater in Olomouc, Robert Balogh. For the first time ever and for one night only, his ballet company will perform at Prague's Estates Theater. They are bringing their newest creation, the full-length ballet Frida, which premiered in Olomouc in March.  

The choreographer and director of the performance, Robert Balogh, is an experienced artist who studied ballet choreography and directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava before working for several years as a dancer and choreographer at the State Theater Oldřich Stibor in Olomouc (today's Moravian Theater) and participating in productions of the Slovak National Theater and the National Theater in Prague. Since 2010, he has been the artistic director of the Ballet Company of the Moravian Theater in Olomouc.

"I have been fascinated by the raw and rough life story of Frida Kahlo for a long time. This deeply emotional story is a great subject for a ballet rendition," Balogh tells The Prague Post.

Kahlo, who is considered one of Mexico's greatest artists, was born in 1907 in Mexico City. Her short life was characterized by contrasts: a jovial spirit, rich creativity and productivity, but also ever present pain, physical suffering and depression. As a result of childhood polio, Kahlo walked with a limp. Years later, she began painting while she was bedridden after being severely injured in a bus accident. The ballet tells Kahlo's story beginning with that tragic accident, which significantly changed her life and rendered her an invalid.

"Frida suffered a severe spinal injury from which she never healed. All her life she suffered from chronic health problems. Her physical pain never passed, and therefore it is one of the central themes of the ballet, interpreted in many forms and in many ways," Balogh says. "Her life is full of drama: pain, passion, love and hate."

Frida also portrays Kahlo's fatal love with her husband, the famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera, whom she loved and hated at the same time, as well as her own turbulent love affairs as a response to Rivera's numerous infidelities.

As an ideal representative of the title role, Robert Balogh has chosen Renáta Mrózková, a ballet soloist from his company, who received the prestigious international Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award in 2008 and also two nominations for the Thalia Prize.

"Mrózková is an extremely gifted dancer. Besides her great dance capabilities, she has also managed to identify with the expression that gives Frida's character authenticity," Balogh says. "As Mrózková's partner, who represents Frida's husband, Diego Rivera, I have chosen Ivo Jambor, a charismatic and charming young soloist."

The two-hour performance is accompanied not only by engaging music from the Hollywood film Frida but also by other selected scores from famous composers and musicians such as Astor Piazzolla, Gary Burton, Richard Galliano, Arvo Pärt, Benny Goodman and Keith Jarrett. Also notable is the stage and lighting design by Jan Dušek: a black background with large, colorful rectangles that swell, shrink and expand during the performance.

This tribute to an important female artist is a great spectacle as full of colors and emotional tensions as Kahlo's famous paintings.

Johana Mücková can be reached at
features@praguepost.com