Zora Šemberová (March 13, 1913 – October 9, 2012) was a Czech dancer, educator and choreographer. She was the first person to dance the role of Juliet in

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

. She is considered one of the most important interpreters in Czech dance.

Life

Šemberová was born in

Vyškov Vyškov (; german: Wischau) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Vyškov ...

, grew up in Brno and began her study of dance at the age of nine with Mme Gugenmoz and later Jaroslav Hladík. Šemberová went on to study at the schools of

Olga Preobrajenska Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska (russian: О́льга Ио́сифовна Преображе́нская; born Preobrazhenskaya; – 27 December 1962) was a Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor. Biogra ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, Tatiana Gzovska in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and in Austria. She studied

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Messa ...

in Paris with

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...

and E. Jaroszewicz. She was also influenced by modernist

Jarmila Kröschlová Jarmila Kröschlová (19 March 1893 – 9 January 1983) was one of the most important representatives of modern dance in Czechoslovakia. She was one of the leading European expressionist dancers and as a choreographer had wide influence on other d ...

. Šemberová performed with the ballet group of the National Theatre in Prague from 1928 to 1930 and from 1943 to 1959. She performed at the

Gaumont-Palace The Gaumont-Palace was a cinema located on Rue Caulaincourt in the French capital Paris. Originally constructed between 1898 and 1900 as the Hippodrome de Montmartre, it staged equestrian shows during its early years. It was originally built wit ...

in Paris and was a soloist in Brno from 1932 to 1941 and at the New German Theater in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

for the 1942/43 season. She taught at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

and at the

Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ( cs, Akademie múzických umění v Praze, AMU) is a university in the centre of Prague, Czech Republic, specialising in the study of music, dance, drama, film, television and multi-media. It is the larg ...

. In 1968, she moved to Australia to teach at

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

. After the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

, she decided to remain in Australia. She taught at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

and founded a mime company, the Australian Mime Theatre. She returned to the Czech Republic several times after 1989. Šemberová received a Thalia Award in 1999 and a Gratias Agit Award in 2005. She married Dr. Vaclav Holub, a surgeon; the marriage later ended in divorce. She helped develop and inspire Czech dancers such as , Ladislav Fialka,

Jiří Kylián Jiří Kylián (born 21 March 1947) is a Czech former dancer and contemporary dance choreographer. Life Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to his father Václav who was a banker and to his mother Markéta, who was as a ...

and . She also taught Australian entertainers such as Scott Hicks and his wife Kerry Heysen,

Greig Pickhaver Greig Pickhaver AM (born 1948) is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian satirical sports comedy duo ''Roy and HG'' as the excitable sports announcer H.G Nelson. The award-winning duo teamed up in 1986 for the Trip ...

Christian Manon Christian Manon (born 5 January 1950) is a French-Australian actor based in Sydney, best known for his work in theatre. His most notable film role was Mael in the film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel, ''Queen of the Damned''. Credits Manon i ...

and

Gale Edwards Gale Edwards (born 14 November 1954) is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. Professional career Edwards began her career at Adelaid ...

. She died in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

at the age of 99.

References

https://sheris-musings.tumblr.com/post/25254905829/zarajuliet {{DEFAULTSORT:Semberova, Zora 1913 births 2012 deaths Czech ballerinas Czech choreographers Czechoslovak emigrants to Australia Recipients of the Thalia Award