IVAN LIŠKA

Director Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich and Heinz Bosl Foundation

Ivan Liška was born in Prague and trained at the Prague Conservatory. After graduating in 1969, he emigrated from his homeland and joined the ballet company of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf.
In 1974 he was demi-soloist with the Ballet of the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. From 1977 to 1997 he danced with the Hamburg Ballet under John Neumeier, where he created numerous roles as one of the male dancers who shaped the ensemble.
Ivan Liška was director of the Bavarian State Ballet from 1998/99 until the end of the 2015/16 season. He presented numerous choreographers new to the Bavarian State Ballet, including Forsythe, Limón, Grand-Maître, Teshigawara, Hosseinpour, Godani, Robbins, Schläpfer, Sandroni, Kohler, Mannes and Duato. Raymonda (Ray Barra/Petipa), Paquita (Ratmansky/Petipa) and Liška's own productions of Sleeping Beauty (2003) and Le Corsaire (2007) demonstrate Liška's characteristic historically reflective approach to choreographic tradition. 
Ivan Liška was speaker of the BBTK. Awards include "Medal for Special Services to Bavaria in a United Europe, "Award for Outstanding Services to International Cultural Exchange" from the Chinese Ministry of Culture. 2009 "Bavarian Order of Merit". 2012 "German Dance Award" and the Bavarian "Order of Maximilian".
In cooperation with Konstanze Vernon, former director of the Heinz Bosl Foundation, and Jan Broeckx, director of the Ballet Academy of the University of Music and Theatre Munich, Ivan Liška founded the Bavarian Junior Ballett München (BJBM, formerly Bavarian State Ballet II / Junior Company) in autumn 2010. After the death of Konstanze Vernon, he took over the direction of the Heinz Bosl Foundation in April 2013.