Milča Mayerová (born Milada Mayerová; 12 April 1901 – 22 September 1977) was a Czech dancer and choreographer.

Biography

Mayerová was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. She was the daughter of Milada Mayerová (nee Ottová) and Jaroslav Mayer. She is known for her contributions to the book ''Abeceda'' ('Alphabet'), published by Otto and Company in 1926. The book is a compilation of poems written by

Vítězslav Nezval Vítězslav Nezval (; 26 May 1900 – 6 April 1958) was a Czechs, Czech poet, writer and translator. He was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the 20th century and a co-founder of the Surrealism, Surrealist ...

and photomontage layouts by Karl Teige that feature choreographed stills of Mayerová. The photographs in the photomontage layouts were taken by Karel Paspa. Nezval, Teige, Paspa, and Mayerová were all members of the Czech avant-garde group

Devětsil The Devětsil () was an association of Czech people, Czech avant-garde artists, founded in 1920 in Prague. From 1923 on there was also an active group in Brno. The movement discontinued its activities in 1930 (1927 in Brno). History Founded as Um ...

, and ''Abeceda'' is considered "a landmark achievement in European modernism". Mayerová performed the accompanying dance to the ''Abeceda'' poem several times at the

Osvobozené divadlo Osvobozené divadlo (1926–1938) (''Liberated Theatre'' or ''Prague Free Theatre'') was a Prague avant-garde theatre scene founded as the theatre section of an association of Czech avant-garde artists Devětsil (''Butterbur'') in 1926. The theat ...

in Prague in 1926 and 1927. Mayerová was a student of

Rudolf von Laban Rudolf (von) Laban, also known as Rudolph von Laban (; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian dance artist, choreographer, and movement theorist. He is considered a "founding father of expressionist dance" and a pioneer of ...

, creator of

Labanotation Labanotation (grammatically correct form "Labannotation" or "Laban notation" is uncommon) is a system for analyzing and recording human movement (Notation, notation system), invented by Austro-Hungarian choreographer and dancer Rudolf von Laban ...

. Mayerová was married twice, first to the architect Jaroslav Fragner, an architect and also a member of

, and later to the historian Antonín Friedl. She died in Prague in 1977, at the age of 76. She is buried in her family's grave at

Vyšehrad cemetery Established in 1869 on the grounds of Vyšehrad Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, the Vyšehrad Cemetery () is the final resting place of many composers, artists, sculptors, writers, and those from the world of science and politics. The center ...

Legacy

A recreation of Mayerová's choreographed piece was part of the exhibit 'Dreams and Disillusion: Karel Teige and the Czech Avant-Garde' at the Wolfsonian at Florida International University. This exhibit ran from 2000 to 2001 and also traveled to the Grey Museum of Art at New York University and the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago.

Paulina Olowska Paulina Olowska (born 1976, Gdańsk) is a Polish painter and photographer, who also works in the field of performance and video-art, social action and applied art. The areas of her artistic explorations are modernist utopias and research on the w ...

has performed a piece inspired by ''Abeceda'' multiple times, including at the Galerie Meerrettich in Berlin (2005), the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2012), the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (2014), and London's Mimosa House (2019). ''Abeceda'' also inspired a performance at UNC Chapel Hill called "Haunted" in collaboration with the university's Rare Book Collection in 2014. Ellen Jilemnická produced a book of poetry in 2022, also called ''Abeceda'', inspired by the original produced by Mayerová, Teige, Nezval, and Paspa.

References

{{reflist 1901 births 1977 deaths Artists from Prague Czech dancers Czech female dancers Czech choreographers Czech women choreographers