"Ballet gives me absolute freedom, but at the same time it also requires complete control, because I have to know the choreography and follow the rules of classical ballet when performing the movements. However, each artist portrays the choreography, performance and role in his own way, has his own personal experience, and that is the key to the freedom that ballet gives me."
This is how Jana Zimonjić, the soloist of the Ballet of the National Theater in Belgrade, describes the freedom she conquers on stage with every movement, this year's winner of the prestigious award "Terpsichore" awarded by the Association of Professional Ballet Dancers, Choreographers and Ballet Educators of Serbia.
Early career award
This success is given a special stamp by the fact that she deserved her award already after her third season at the National Theatre, practically at the beginning of her professional career, as stated by the expert jury that awarded her the award.
As a reminder, some previous laureates were fully established artists when they received the "Terpsichore": Ana Pavlović received it in 2012 when she was already a prima ballerina, Bojana Žegarac Knežević was a ballet champion when she received the award in 2018, and Toma Križnar was awarded in 2023 as a mature soloist.
That's why when Zimonjić talks about ballet, he speaks with undisguised youthful enthusiasm, unquenchable emotion and fortunately very far from routine.
"Performing it is different every time and I know that it is an expression of emotion and my state at that very moment. Although it must be performed physically and choreographically according to the rules, it is still something special for me at every moment," she says.
This was also appreciated by the three-member jury, which consisted of soloists from the Vienna Opera Gala Jovanovic, champion of the ensemble "Kolo" Milan Radovanović and Branko Mitrović, soloist of the Ballet Theater in Terazije, who stated in the explanation that Zimonjić stood out in the past season at the National Theater for her acting and performances.
Roles
Game lovers could see her in various roles in the ballets "Don Quixote", "Baladera", "Giselle", "Swan Lake", "Corsair", "Coppelia", "Krcko Oraščić", "Ko to tamo peva", "Infinitas", "Banović Strahinja" and "Reflex".
Photo: Marijana JankovićBallet "Bajadera" National Theater Belgrade
She understands the award as a great incentive and motivation for future work and confirmation that she is on the right path, and states that she has made significant progress and gained a lot of experience on stage for three seasons at the National Theater and in working with different pedagogues.
She points out that she fell in love with ballet at the age of three, which is why her mother enrolled her in the "Flex" ballet studio. Although at first it was supposed to be just a hobby to help her find her personal interests, she quickly became interested and started taking the classes seriously.
She began her official ballet education at the dance school "Ashen Ataljanc", where she received a scholarship that allowed her to start practicing ballet professionally. Two years after that, she entered the "Lujo Davičo" Ballet School in the class of Jelena Milanović Ćirica, where she completed elementary ballet school. She enrolled in the first grade of the High School of Ballet "Lujo Davičo" in the class of Rose Milić. In Belgrade, as she likes to point out, she gained discipline and knowledge that helped her further.
Then, at a competition in Bucharest, she received an invitation to attend a summer seminar at the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera, where she continued and completed her education, and then joined the ensemble of the National Theater in 2023.
Experience from Vienna
"The four years I spent in Vienna gave me very valuable experience, but of course it was not always easy to deal with numerous challenges in a new environment, which is why I am immensely grateful to my family for their unconditional support at all times," says Zimonjić.
Although she points out that ballet always comes first in her life, she believes that general education is extremely important for every artist. That is why, in addition to the ballet academy, she also completed high school in Vienna, and is currently studying psychology at the IU International University of Applied Sciences.
Asked how to fight the prejudices that classify ballet as an "elitist" art that is sometimes difficult to understand, she reminds that there is always a ballet performance program.
"Sometimes it may be difficult for the audience to understand the whole story without first getting to know the action. However, a large part of a ballet performance is acting and that action is usually recognized, because we evoke emotion with movement on stage and with music. However, a ballet performance can be enjoyed even without that prior knowledge. I think many people simply enjoy the movement and music, in the act itself, aware that this art only happens once, at that moment on stage," concludes Zimonjić.
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