Jana Andrsová


Jana Andrsová was a Czech ballerina and actress. In 1957 she graduated from the Dance Conservatory in Prague and began to work with the Vitus Nejedly Army Art Ensemble.

Laterna Magika

From 1959 to 1978, Andrsová worked with Josef Svoboda's avant-garde multimedia company Laterna Magika, initially as a chorus girl and later as a prima ballerina. In Allen Hughes' review of the company's August 1964 Carnegie Hall debut of a presentation that gave 23 performances at that venue under the direction of Miloš Forman, they are described as "a Czech theatrical spectacle that first came to international attention at the Brussels World's Fair." In 1966 Andrsová starred in Alfréd Radok's choreographed multimedia production Laterna Magika: Variation 66, The Opening of the Wells, cowritten by Forman in collaboration with Jan Švankmajer.

Retirement and death

In retirement, Andrsová continued to make stage appearances. In 2014 she performed as elderly virtuous heroine Madame de Rosemonde in the National Theatre Ballet world premiere production of Valmont, choreographer Libor Vaculík's adaptation of Les Liaisons dangereuses.
Andrsová died on 16 February 2023, at the age of 83.

Filmography

Strakonický dudákwood nymphJak se Franta naučil bátmiller's daughter VeronikaRusalka – Rusalka Hoffmannovy povídky – OlympiaDvanáctého – dancerSvět je báječné místo k narození – herselfBludiště moci – ballerinaKočičí princ – mother