For the Love of Ballet, Karel Audy Dances Through the Pain

By Kristýna Hašková

I’ve always liked ballet, so my choice of interesting person connected to Brno was clear. But which ballet dancer? I find out that this young ballet dancer competed in many international competitions and is a soloist from age 23. It was very pleasant to speak with him.
It’s hot in a training room in the National Theatre of Brno. The dancers can be seen twice because of a big mirror on one wall. They are dressed in a close-fitting sport clothes. Each muscle is recognizable when dancers jump, as if they have wings. The music stops. The theatre master isn’t satisfied with a few of the dancers. They don’t rotate in a circle so they have to dance it again. The rest of the dancers are talking with each other.
But only one isn’t – he is stretching or practicing some pirouettes. A few minutes later, he practices his role. He is also the only one who smiles when practicing. “I’m trying to be the best because it brings me reward from the audience and also self-satisfaction,” says Karel Audy. “I always wanted to be a soloist. I know that I’m good because ballet dancers have to do some exercises. And every dancer knows how the best form of the exercise looks and if he can or can’t do it. I have physical predispositions for ‘can do it’ so I work on a better form every day.”
Audy, 24, is a part-time a soloist in the National Theatre of Brno, but also a demi-soloist (a dancer of chorus with solo roles) in the National Theatre in Prague. He is also a student and because he works in these two theatres he has very little time. So he isn’t attending school as other students – he has an individual study plan. He studies at Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno.
This work is also about pain and uncertain social status. But that isn’t everything. “I love doing ballet performances because this job connects physical exertion with art,” says Audy. Because he can amuse people and offer some cultural experience, that is the reason why he dances.
But it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. “I thought that students learn something like a disco dance at dance conservatory,” says Audy. He was very active during his childhood, starting yachting at the age of seven. He also attended a few lessons of modern dance.
So when teachers from dance conservatory were doing selection from elementary schools, they also tried flexibility of Audy’s body. They were satisfied and wanted him to study at the conservatory. But he fell ill with mononucleosis. Because of related liver problems, he couldn’t do any sport for several months.
The next year rules changed – children didn’t go from fourth class but from fifth class at age ten or eleven. So Audy had a second chance to go to the conservatory and he went there.
He thought that he would be studying something different. At the beginning he was bored – they stand beside a horizontal beam and move leg ahead and back again and again. So he thought about football, toy-cars and what to do when the school day ends. But when he was 14 he really began to love dancing. So he decided to become a professional ballet dancer and he had to stop yachting because he couldn’t do two professional sports at the same time. “I need to do everything fully,” emphasized Audy.
Now as a professional ballet dancer, Audy travels a lot – usually he has a tour abroad during the summer and he enters the competitions. When he was 22 he won the Second International Competition of Brno and when he was 23 he was a finalist in the international ballet competition Premio Roma in Italy. With a dance group from Brno’s theatre, he went to Japan, Spain and Italy.
Often he has to overcome pain because he is been injured for many times. For example he fell and hurt his instep so had to learn again how to move with it in a better way. When he has smaller pains, such as pulled muscle, he dances through it. He goes for massage, takes pills and is more careful. “I sometimes thought about quitting dancing due to the pain, but in fact I know that I don’t want it. Dancers can overcome pain because they love ballet so much.”
Life of ballet dancers is different than it was in the past. “Before 1989, the social status of dancers was better,” says Audy. “Ballet dancers were well-known and honoured. Now young people don’t know what ballet is, and they don’t visit the theatre. Before, it was prestigious to go to the theatre.” But he says he is happy to have work that entertains not only him, but others, too.
“Karel has talent and is hardworking,” says his colleague, Andrea Smejlkalová. She says she likes to dance with him because he takes care of his colleague – not only how he stands but if his partner looks good. Audy’s ballet master Jana Ruggieri, says he takes her suggestions very seriously by focusing on his physical and psychical expression.
Since June Audy has been working in Prague. He moved there to learn new types of choreographies. He also continues toward his bachelor’s degree – this is his third year of studies so he will graduate soon. When he finishes his master’s degree he will be able to work as a choreographer or a teacher at the conservatory.
After he ends his dancing career he wants to do one of these occupations. “I have just started with doing choreography and I really like to try and create new variations,” says Audy. Every dancer can work to improve himself, but not everyone can have predisposition to help others improve themselves. “I want to be a teacher because I can see mistakes of other dancers,” says Audy. “And I’d like to help others to improve their skills.”