Asked for the secret to a long and successful career in dance, Jiří Bubeníček’s short answer - “Living the moment” - really encapsulates an entire universe. More than anyone else in this profession, he completely understands the discipline and personal sacrifice required to give yourself entirely to the artistic moment that is created on stage. It is a huge demand to place on oneself, to maintain such control over the intellect and the soul in every single second so that for the spectator, the natural laws of space and time seem suspended. The allure of Jiří Bubeníček’s stage presence is impossible to escape: his body combines athleticism, strength, speed, musicality, breathtaking technique, charm and perfect elegance, while he possesses an unerring instinct to shape roles with the utmost sensitivity. The life story of this world-class dancer makes clear that this is no mere gift, but has had to be mastered through hard work. The several turning points that can be observed over his 25-year professional career are clear evidence of a hunger for life and a drive to explore the unknown; at the same time, they are part and parcel of his unique success story.

This relatively late start to ballet training is made up for by the boys’ native intelligence, their diligence and the ability to attract attention at the right moment: at the age of 15, Jiří and Otto Bubeníček catch the eye of John Neumeier when they take part in a competition for choreographers in Tokyo. This first encounter was not to be the last; around two years later, when the brothers are awarded the “Prix Espèces” at the Prix de Lausanne 1992, jury chair John Neumeier personally offers them two places at the ballet school in Hamburg. But then, as today, the twins showed their great acumen in resisting temptation: they decide to complete their ballet training in Prague before, one year later, directly joining the ensemble of the Hamburg Ballet.

“Treading water” is a term unknown to Jiří Bubeníček. Resting on his hard-earned laurels in Hamburg is not in his nature. As much as he is supported by John Neumeier, there is a lack of intense collaboration with other choreographers in Hamburg. Although the city can claim such great names as Mats Ek, Nacho Duato, Jiří Kylián and Stephan Thoss, they are few in number. And so the dancer moves on. Consumed with curiosity, he educates himself at the world’s leading museums and theatres.

His unconscious search for the new is answered when he meets Aaron S. Watkin, the new director of Dresden’s Semperoper Ballett, who is seeking not just new dancers for his company but also wishes to shake up the repertoire with fresh and diverse choreographies. Jiří Bubeníček senses that his future is here. In 2006 he leaves Hamburg after 13 years to join the newly reorganised Semperoper Ballett as principal.

Leaving behind his artistic godfather, Neumeier, the dancer embarks on a period of growing independence – as an experienced performer, in Dresden he grasps the opportunity to develop more freely as an artist and to sharpen his profile. From the outset, he is regarded as the “lead”, taking on practically all the main male roles in Aaron S. Watkin’s classical ballets – from the Prince in “Sleeping Beauty” or “Swan Lake” to the Consort in “The Nutcracker” and Solor in “La Bayadère”. These protagonists are complemented by the role of Petrucchio in John Cranko’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, which Jiří Bubeníček also dances for the Semperoper Ballet; in all these cases, he constantly draws on the experiences gained in Hamburg for his interpretations of these great ballets.

But above all, Jiří Bubeníček realises his desire to explore new dance styles and thereby to mature even more as an artist. In Dresden, he works with William Forsythe, the radical rethinker and interpreter of classical ballet, on pieces such as “Enemy in the Figure” and “Impressing the Czar”. Jiří Bubeníček is able to deepen his understanding of neo-classical ballet through the work of George Balanchine while simultaneously immersing himself in the unique choreographic styles of Mats Ek and Jiří Kylián, which he already had the opportunity to learn and perform in Hamburg. He breaks new ground through collaborations with choreographers as diverse as Jacopo Godani in his energetic “Sacre”, Pontus Lidberg in his elegiac, flowing “Im anderen Raum”, Johann Inger in his devastating “Walking Mad”, David Dawson in the ethereal “Giselle”, Alexander Ekman in the extraordinary “Cacti” and many, many more. Here it is also important to mention the working partnership with Stijn Celis, who, aiming to fully exploit the dancer’s potential, develops – together with Jiří Bubeníček – two roles that ideally reflect the dancer’s artistic maturity, namely Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” (2013) and Joseph in “Joseph’s Legend” (2014).

Representative of the multitude of ecstatic reviews, the following sentence hints at one central quality of the dancer: “It is spellbinding to see how he plumbs the very depths of the role.” (Onlinemerker). For all his technical brilliance, it is this astonishing shaping of character that Jiří Bubeníček has refined and exhaustively explored over the years. And those audience members who, instead of leaving their seats for the break, stayed behind to watch him fill the empty space with his extensive intermission solo in Ohad Naharin’s “Minus 16”, will finally have grasped the complexity and all-encompassing abilities of this unique dancer.

Yet the pinnacle of success, as well as physical abilities, is inevitably reached at some point. And Jiří Bubeníček’s unparalleled career lasted longer than he could have dared hope. But having reached his 40s, the next change awaited him – one for which he had already been preparing for years. His first steps as a choreographer had long since led to commissions from international ballet companies. And so the next stage in the choreographer’s life is already well and truly underway.

Jiří Bubeníček made his swansong performance with a choreographic “missing link” on 11 November 2015 when he appeared as Des Grieux in Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon”, delving into the passions and experiences of a life full of challenges; it is abundantly clear that only the dancer’s own rich personal history could have prepared him for this touching portrayal – a concentrated exploration of a life and a man who, in every single moment, gives his all.