Milada Horáková was unjustly convicted and executed in one of the largest fabricated political trials that took place in the 1950s in communist Czechoslovakia. The aim of the so-called monster trials was to deter people from any criticism of the state regime. Part of a large trial there were dozens of smaller lawsuits across the country. Requests for pardon were in vain. The then communist president Klement Gottwald, despite the insistence of world personalities such as Einstein, Churchill, Cardinal Griffin, Bertrand Russel and many others confirmed the death penalty for Milada Horáková on June 24. In total, they decided on 10 death sentences, almost 50 life sentences and other prison sentences totaling more than 7800 years. Thanks to her steadfastness and courage Horáková became a symbol of resistance to totalitarian power.
The creators dedicated this unique, multi-genre dance performance with deep respect to Mrs. Jana Kánska, daughter of Milada Horáková, who received her mother’s letter, written for the sixteen-year-old daughter, only after forty years.
Ondrej Soth choreographer, director, set designer and the director of the State Theatre Košice. From 1975 to 1979 he studied classical dance at the Conservatory in Košice, then obtained a Master of Arts degree in choreography at the High School of Fine Arts in Bratislava in 1983. In Prague he became a choreographer for the Chamber Ballet and later for the National Theatre. He returned to Slovakia in 1989, where he choreographed performances for the Slovak National Theatre and the Folk Art Ensemble.
Between 1990 and 1995 he was a teacher at the Bratislava High School of Fine Arts, the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Conservatory in Prague. And also taught in Krakow, Belgium, Paris, China, India and Japan. From 1994 to 1998, he was head of the ballet section of the Town Theatre of Ústí nad Labem in Czech Republic. In the second half of the 1990s he worked on dance projects in Munich, Salzburg, Hamburg, Toronto and Lisbon. From 2000 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2020, he was ballet director of the State Theatre Košice, the two periods beetween he was director of the Slovak National Theatre. Since 2020, he has been managing director of the State Theatre Košice.
He choreographed dozens of works, from classical ballet to opera and contemporary dance theatre. Collaborated with many well-known theatre directors, including Ľubomír Vajdiček, Roman Polák, Jozef Bednárik and Marián Chudovský. He also worked on films with Juraj Jakubiska and Peter Weigl, and worked in Hollywood.
For his outstanding work he received numerous awards in Slovakia and abroad. Among others, the World Ballet Stars Award, twice the DOSKY Theatre Award and the Crystal Wing Award.
