Barbora Kohoutková
Ballet MistressBiography
Barbora Kohoutková was born in Prague. From an early childhood she loved physical activity, ballet, gymnastics and various sports, as a little girl she played in television series and fairy tales. At the age of ten she entered the Prague Dance Conservatory and during her seven-year studies received a number of international competition awards such as Grand Prix in Paris, Gold medal and Grand Prix in Helsinki or Grand Prix in New York. At seventeen Barbora became a first soloist in the Finish National Ballet and stayed there for six years. In 2002 after performing in a world premiere of Raymonda she gained a one year contract in Bavarian State Ballet. In 2002 she also received Philip Morris Best Artist Award. Then she spent a year in the Boston Ballet and upon an invitation by John Neumeier became a member of the Hamburg Ballet. She stayed there for four years until 2008. In the 2013/2014 season she danced as a guest prima ballerina at Aalto Ballet Essen.
Barbora mastered a wide range of classical and neoclassical roles such as Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Giselle or Manon and had the opportunity to work with great ballet masters and teachers and some of the most famous choreographers. She was a dance partner of many distinguished ballet dancers, for instance Roberto Bolle, Friedemann Vogel or Semyon Chudin.
An important part of her career is her pedagogical work, today she is a full-time teacher. Barbora taught classical dance at Harvard University in the US, Tokyo Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Swedish company Norrdans, AMU in Prague and has been working for Finnish National Ballet, Beijing Dance Academy and – last but not least – for the National Theatre in Prague. Her exceptional teaching skills could also be seen during various summer courses, for example Daria Klimentova’s Masterclasses in Prague in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013. In the last two years she organized her own summer courses aiming at a healthy physical and psychological development of dancers.
Apart from working as a guest ballet master all over the world Barbora Kohoutková is (from 2008) a GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® certified instructor and owner of Art of Movement Studio in Prague, the only studio in the Czech Republic employing these special training and movement methods.