Jana Andrsová

Jana Andrsová (Večtomová; 8 August 1939 – 16 February 2023) 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.^[2]

Jana Andrsová
Andrsová in 2016[n 1]
Born	(1939-08-08)8 August 1939 Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (now Czech Republic)
Died	16 February 2023(2023-02-16) (aged 83) Prague, Czech Republic
Education	Dance Conservatory in Prague
Occupation(s)	Actress, ballerina
Spouse	Saša Večtomov (m. 1964–1989, his death)
Children	3

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 (beginning in 1973) as a prima ballerina.^[2] 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,^[3]: 433 they are described as "a Czech theatrical spectacle that first came to international attention at the Brussels World's Fair."^{[4][n 2]} 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.^[5]

Retirement and death

In retirement, Andrsová continued to make stage appearances. In 2014 (also a 2016 reprise) 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.^[6]

Andrsová died on 16 February 2023, at the age of 83.^[7]

Filmography

• Strakonický dudák (1955) – wood nymph
• Jak se Franta naučil bát (1959) – miller's daughter Veronika
• Rusalka (1962) – Rusalka (part sung by Milada Šubrtová)^[8][9]
• Hoffmannovy povídky (1962) – Olympia
• Dvanáctého (1963) – dancer
• Svět je báječné místo k narození (1968) – herself
• Bludiště moci (1969) – ballerina
• Kočičí princ (1978) – mother

Notes

1. Andrsová makes an appearance in the Sonja Vectomov music video "Two in One," directed by Mika Johnson.^[1]
2. "Laterna Magika is not a simple affair," Hughes continues by way of introduction. "It combines motion pictures, stereophonic sound and live performers in so elaborate a way that a considerable amount of construction has had to be done in Carnegie Hall to make it work. The stage has been extended and built up with a series of platforms and steps shrouded in black velvet hangings, and several boxes in the back of the auditorium have been made into rooms containing projection equipment. At one point, a small instrumental ensemble plays from a side location in one of the seating tiers."