Hana Vláčilová

Biography

Hana Vláčilová is a towering figure of Czech ballet. The winner of numerous international accolades, during her illustrious career as a dancer she portrayed dozens of roles in, primarily, classical works. Adored by audiences, she gained critical acclaim as a brilliant ballerina synonymous with impeccable technique, refined expression of dramatic nuances and remarkable great sense of music.
From 1968 to 1973, she studied at the Dance Conservatory in Prague. In 1974, she continued to hone her skills within a yearlong residency at the Leningrad State Choreographic Institute (today the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, St Petersburg), which she concluded with a graduation performance at the Mariinsky Theatre. She subsequently joined the Czech National Ballet, where two years later, in 1976, she was named a soloist. Her repertoire over the next 25 years included the roles of Cinderella, Giselle, Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) Clara (The Nutcracker) Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Kitri (Don Quixote) Lisa (La Fille mal gardée), Phrygia (Spartacus), Maria (The Fountain of Bakhchisaray), the Sylph (La Sylphide), Swanhilda (Coppélia), Katerina (The Stone Flower), Marguerite (Faust), Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), and many others. She was also a permanent guest of the Komische Oper and Staatsoper Berlin, and gave numerous performances in Spain, France, Austria, Poland, the USSR, Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg, as well as in the USA, Cuba and Australia.
Hana Vláčilová garnered accolades at international ballet competitions, including first and second prizes in Varna (1972 and 1976), a second prize in Tokyo (1976) and a first prize in Bratislava (1978). She received the German Critics’ Dance Award (1978) and the Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award (1995). She has taught at the Prague Dance Conservatory (since 1994) and at the Czech National Ballet (since 1998). From 1999 to 2004, she headed the Laterna magika ballet; in 2005, she began working as a coach and ballet master with the State Opera Prague, where in 2011 she was appointed artistic director of its dance section.