Pavel Smok

Smok, Pavel (b Levoča, 22 Oct. 1927). Czech dancer, choreographer, and ballet director. He began his training late, after having pursued a brief but successful acting career, and graduated from Prague State Conservatory aged 26. He danced with the Army Ensemble (1952-5) and in Pilsen (1955-8) but an operation on his back forced him to turn to choreography. He was appointed ballet master in Usti nad Labem (1958-60) then at Ostrava (1960-4). In 1964 he co-founded Prague Ballet with Lubos Ogoun where he was ballet master until 1970, then became ballet director of Basle Ballet (1970-3). He worked as a freelance choreographer until forming the Chamber Ballet Prague in 1975, where he was director and choreographer. His ballets, such as Intimate Letters (mus. Janáček, 1969), Sinfonietta (mus. Janáček, 1971), and Stabat Mater (mus. Dvořák, 1995), frequently use Czech and Slovak scores, the tense angular style of his early ballets softening into a more rounded lyricism in the later works. In 1990 he was appointed professor in the music faculty of the Prague Academy of Arts.