MILAN SLÁDEK *February 23, 1938, Streženice, Slovakia, †December 4, 2024, Cologne, Germany
Mime, Choreographer, Director and Educator Milan Sládek was first captivated by visual arts.

He attended the Bratislava School of Arts with a focus on wood carving, graduating in 1957 with a high school diploma. During his secondary school years, he also became interested in theater. He presented his first mime performances at the student theater of J. A. Komenský University in Bratislava. Milan Sládek continued his studies at the Theater Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, specializing in acting. In 1958, he premiered his first production, „An Evening of Mime,“ in Bratislava. In the following years, he became a student of Emil František Burian in Prague, a master of poetic theater and one of the most important founders of Czech avant-garde theater. Here, Sládek received his first professional engagement. He founded his first mime ensemble with Eduard Žlábek, a solo dancer and choreographer at Burian’s Theater „D34.“ On March 10, 1960, the pantomime comedy „Hrča“ / „The Beule“ premiered, introducing his fictional character „Kefka,“ Sládek’s alter ego, on stage for the first time.

Milan Sládek’s educational work mainly involved projects with young people. He regularly led workshops not only in his theater but also in many other countries. In 1987, he was appointed a professor and head of the mime department at Folkwang University of Music and Performing Arts in Essen. From 1979 to 2004, he worked as an instructor with the German-French Youth Office (DFJW/OFAJ), founded by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer. After the fall of communism, Sládek returned to his homeland in 1989. In 1994, he became the director of the Arena Theater in Bratislava. He initiated the restoration of the historic arena building and led the newly established International Institute for Physical Theater until June 2002. That year, he left Bratislava and returned to Germany, where he continued to participate in various international projects from Cologne alongside his own artistic work.
In 2005, he staged „The Threepenny Opera“ in Tokyo. In 2006, he participated in the reconstruction of the premiere of W.A. Mozart’s pantomime „Pantalon and Columbine“ KV 446 for the Mozart Festival in Vienna. In January 2016, Sládek presented his production „Antigone“ at UNESCO in Paris, marking the first mime performance ever held at this institution.