Czech mime Ladislav Fialka

35 Years ago died Ladislav Fialka, legendary mime who founded his own theater in Praha, Czechoslovakia

Ladislav Fialka (September 22, 1931, Prague – February 22, 1991, Prague) was an actor-mime, founder of the Czechoslovak school of classical and modern pantomime and the large Pantomime Na zábradlí troupe (1959 – 1992). (from Wikipedia)

Ladislav Fialka was not only an excellent mime artist who toured the world with his pantomime, but he also created an audience in Czechoslovakia, which had no tradition in pantomime. According to his colleagues, he had the gift of attracting passionate people who were willing to do great work and work hard for little money.

During the existence of the company, the dancers visited sixty countries of the world, some even ten times. "We hit the time, the Germans called it the Renaissance of pantomime," recalled member of the ensemble. "World critics divide pantomime into the French modern school, where abstract mime performs, they say about my work that it is the Czech school, the so-called concrete Fialka's mime. I am very proud that they call it concrete. Although not that I despise that French abstraction, I learn it very carefully," claimed Ladislav Fialka.

A bit of history

Ladislav Fialka was born on August 22, 1931 in Prague into a family that had a positive attitude towards culture and art.

He was artistically inclined, he painted and tried his hand at sculpture, he played the piano and the trumpet. He applied to the conservatory, but since they didn't accept him for musical instruments, he went to the ballet department, with the idea that he would later try to transfer. Fortunately, that never happened. It turned out that he had an amazing gift for movement, even though he wasn't naturally inclined to ballet.

During the conservatory's final performance at the Prague Klementinum, Ladislav Fialka was noticed by Jiří Trnka (1912–1969) and offered him cooperation in the choreography of his film A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959). Fialka danced in the studio and the filmmakers animated the puppets accordingly.

Jiří Trnka said to Fialka: „You have talent and when someone has talent, he also has a duty to use it.”

Fialka founded Pantomime ensemble in the Prague theater Na zábradlí (1959–1992) and this troupe operated here without interruption throughout Fialka's active professional life. And it ended with his death, not only because of the Velvet Revolution, but above all because the connection of the troupe with his personality was so fundamental that despite the efforts of some of his collaborators, the troupe failed to survive.

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                                                            Margaret