The Slovenian Theatre Museum has prepared a photography exhibition about ballet artist and Prešeren Award winner Vojko Vidmar. His extraordinary creative work is presented through a series of selected photographs.
His sister, who wanted to become a dancer, which did not come true, brought him to the ballet school in Ljubljana, where after two years of preparatory school he was accepted into the first class in 1958, and graduated in 1968 as the Prince in The Nutcracker. Two years earlier he had also completed his studies at the Mechanical Technical School in Ljubljana. He danced part-time in the Ljubljana ballet ensemble from 1963, was permanently engaged in 1966, and in 1975 was promoted to the title of soloist and danced until his retirement in 1995, and even after that he participated for a few more years. In his early years he danced in the ballet choir and received smaller roles, his first leading role was Hamlet in the ballet of the same name. This was followed by roles in the ballets The Wire, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Giselle, Webern Duet, The Devil in the Village, The Nutcracker, Abraxas, Rosalind, Dance of the Cadets, The Tempter, The Trumpet and the Devil, The Soldier's Tale, Swan Lake, The Flemish Legend, Miss Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Peer Gynt, Irene Holm, Don Quixote's Dreams, The White Doe, Beautiful Vida, The Miraculous Mandarin, Beauty and the Beast, Perpetuum, Don Quixote, etc. These were joined by roles in opera performances and numerous television appearances, in which he also tried his hand as a choreographer of the short ballet The Water Man by Jani Golob in 1978. He toured in Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Italy, Canada, Hungary, Macedonia, Germany, Serbia, Montenegro and the USA. In 1971 he received the Župančič Award, in 1976 the Golden Bird Award, in 1978 the Prešeren Fund Award, in 1979, 1981 and 1985 the Yugoslav Ballet Biennial Awards, in 1986 and 1987 the Slovenian Ballet and Dance Critics Association Award, and in 1996 the Prešeren Award. In 2001, the Slovenian Theatre Museum published a monographic publication about him. He is also active as a television producer of ballet films and ballet events and, among others, made a film about Pia and Pino Mlakar entitled "Pas de deux" with Danica Dolinar and some other portraits of ballet dancers. Television Slovenia also made his ballet portraits in 1980 and 1995. Henrik Neubauer, Faces of Slovenian Ballet, Biographical Lexicon, Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre, Ljubljana, 2008
Publication Vojko Vidmar – ballet dancer
