2018 Thalia Awards Laureates in category of Dance and Physical Theatre

2018 Thalia Awards Laureates in category of Dance and Physical Theatre

Alina Nanu, for the role of Lisa in La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) in the National Theatre, Prague.
(Choreography: Frederick Ashton,  music: Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold, John Lanchbery, libretto: Jean Dauberval, premières: 19 and 20 April, 2018).
Jury’s evaluation:

As if the role was tailor-made for her. It sounds like a cliché, but watching Alina Nanu dancing Lisa, you cannot think otherwise. Cheekily, she dances through the whole ballet, you fall in love with her frolicking and you are not even aware of how gracefully she is coping with Ashton’s challenging choreography, full of difficult dance embellishments.”

The other nominees in this category included Julie De Meulemeester (South Bohemian Theatre, České Budějovice) for the role of Ona (Her) in Klíče odnikud (Keys from Nowhere), and Shino Sakurado (National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ostrava) for the role of Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons.

Broader nominations:
Jarmila Hruškociová (The Taming of the Shrew, J. K. Tyl Theatre, Pilsen)
Ivona Jeličová (Storm, F. X. Šalda Theatre, Liberec)
Kristýna Němečková (The Visitors, Hangár 18, Dekkadancers Prague)
Tereza Ondrová (Same Same, Ponec Theatre, Prague).
Sawa Shiratsuki (Don Quixote, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ostrava)
Emily-Joy Smith (La Bayadère, Moravian Theatre, Olomouc)
Linda Svidró (A Bouquet of Czech Folktales, Prague Chamber Ballet)

Dominik Vodička for the role of Man in A Bouquet of Czech Folktales with Prague Chamber Ballet, choreographed by Petr Zuska (Music: Ondřej Brousek, libretto (script): Petr Zuska, premières: 1 May 2019).

Jury’s evaluation: “Dominik Vodička portrays the role of Man with escalating energy which culminates in the second part of the ballet. His dancing is in perfect harmony with the music and he imbues Zuska's choreography with authentic and convincing stage expression. In dramatic moments, he is naturally manly and dynamic, in lyrical passages he can be gentle and humble. The role of Man in the baladic tales is full of contrasts and emotions that the dancer needs to bring on stage.”

The other nominees in this category included Gaëtan Pires ( J. K. Tyl Theatre Pilsen) for the role of Petruccio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Matěj Šust for the role of Colas in La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter).
Broader nominations:
Petr Horníček (Ego, Losers Cirque Company, Prague)
Matthias Kastl (Dangerous Liaisons, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ostrava)
Peter Lerant (Walking Mad, Brno National Theatre)
Zdeněk Mládek (The Streetcar Named Desire, South Bohemian Theatre, České Budějovice)
Sergio Méndes Romero (Don Quixote, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ostrava)
Ondřej Vinklát (La Fille mal gardée – The Wayward Daughter, National Theatre, Praha)
Adam Zvonař (Swan Lake, National Theatre, Prague)

The Thalia Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to the dancer-mime, teacher and director Zdenka Kratochvílová (born 14 November, 1936).

Zdenka Kratochvílová graduated from Prague Dance Conservatory in 1956. She was the founding member of Fialkova Pantomima Na zábrádlí 1958 and until 1957 she played a number of lyrical, comic and clown roles, such as Dancer in Kdyby tisíc klarinetů (1958), Columbine, Dolores and Mime in Pantomima Na zábradlí (1959), and many other roles in Études (1960), Ona (Her) in Devět klobouků na Prahu (1960), in Cesta (1962), Blázni (1965), Knoflík (1968), Caprichos (1971) and Lásky (1974). In 1973, Kratochvílová created the character of the clown Animuk (a hero with a red nose, dressed in a white frock and a green hat, carrying a suitcase and a back-basket) for junior audiences of the Music Theatre. She broadened the repertoire of this clown (1974-87, the theatre hall of Dům dětské knihy Albatros Na Pernštýně) in collaboration with the director L. Engelová (from 1976, they performed together as Kapesní divadlo – Pocket Theatre, inspired by Marcel Marceau’s Théâtre de la Poche in Paris).

At times, they were joined on stage by a theatre actor (Miroslav Nohýnek, Ladislav Mrkvička) who played the role of Anikrok, the serious a rigid partner of the curious and mute Animuk. Building on the principles of contact with children spectators, she adapted F. Nepil’s Pohádky o Makovém mužíčkovi (1974) for theatre, and toured with the piece in Sweden, Finland, USSR and England as part of Klaun Animuk letí recital.  This was followed by Animuk na stopě (1976) and a play for adult audiences Šatna na pláži (music: Z. Šikola, 1981, tours in France, Mexico and Greece) in which she used her rich performing experience, as she played with props and costumes, and movement dynamics of her character’s changing age. From 1974 she taught at the music and drama department of the Prague conservatory, as a choreographer she collaborated on numerous theatre productions at home and abroad.

Source:
Thalia Awards
Český taneční slovník. Tanec, balet, pantomima (Czech Dance Dictionary. Dance, Ballet, Pantomime), ed. J. Holeňová, Prague: Theatre Institute 2001, p. 155.