The debate was once again stirred up by Filip Staněk in his reflection published on Opera PLUS on 29 September 2023. On the one hand, the Thalia Awards are attributed a fatal weight, as if they should finally seal the success of an entire artistic career. On the other, it is heavily criticised or even ridiculed. According to Filip Staňek, it is even harmful to the artistic environment and disrespectful to artists. Let’s take a more sober look at the Thalia Prize.
According to Staňek, it is nonsense to compete in art, let alone in something as unwilling and ephemeral as theatre or dance. Yes, we cannot talk about competition as we know it from sports. The performance being watched cannot be measured in metres, tracked on a watch or counted in points. It is a competition in a very figurative sense and it is no use likening the winning of a glass sculpture to an Olympic trophy and nominations to podium places. Those who decide on the nominations and awards are based on their knowledge and experience, on the basis of which they can judge the level of dance technique or musicality, but in the end the formulation of their opinion is purely subjective. However, nominations can also be submitted by members of the Czech Academy of Theatre Artists (which includes, among others, all previous Thalia Award winners), professional associations, art colleges, conservatories and theatres themselves. The juries are obliged to consider these proposals.
It is quite possible that the range of nominees and award winners would have been different if the jury had been composed differently. This is a situation that we sometimes encounter in life – our success can be decided by a clash of several subjective opinions, for example when we are sitting an exam in front of a committee or applying for a job and countless other immeasurable factors besides our knowledge and aptitude for the job are decisive. Therefore, let us please not take the Thalia Awards (and similar awards) as something existential, unquestionably determining what is the best, what is good and what is not worth talking about, because that artist or performance does not even fit into the broader nomination.
Finally, it is necessary to mention the Czech Academy of Theatre Artists Award, which allows to award a wide range of artists in addition to performers. Logically, there is a huge overflow of outstanding personalities – from directors to playwrights, stage designers, composers, chorus masters, to theoreticians or choreographers. This award is open to all Thalia Award winners, representatives of professional organisations (e.g. Cirqueon, Vision of Dance, Association of Dance Artists of the Czech Republic), as well as dance conservatories or some university departments or studios. If those who are members of the Academy are reading this and are invited to vote, I urge them to take an active part. Every vote carries weight.
In his text, Filip Staněk touched upon a number of topics related to the Thalia Prize and to art appreciation in general. Many of them invite further controversy. But that would be too much for my post.
Roman Vašek, chairman of the jury of the Thalia Awards in the category of Ballet, Dance and Movement Theatre
