Jirí Pokorný was born in Prague, Czech Republic in 1981. He started his dance training at the pre-ballet school of the State Opera in Prague when he was eight years old and continued his studies at the Prague National Dance Conservatory. After his graduation, Jiri joined Laterna Magika Praha (2000) and three years later he joined Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (NDT2) in The Hague, advancing to NDT1 in 2006. He has worked with many renowned choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite and others. Jiri has also created his own works at the annual choreography workshop, “Switch From Dancer to Choreographer”, collaborated with physical theatre “Spitfire Company” in Prague and taught for Move In, the education department of NDT, Mediterraneo Dance Festival in Italy, and Architanz Japan. His works Dead Nature and Flying Roof were created for NDT’s Summer Intensive in 2010/11.
In August 2010, Jiri joined Crystal Pite’s company, Kidd Pivot Frankfurt. Currently, Jiri is continuing his career as a choreographer. His recent works, Doze, was created for NDT2 and premiered in January 2013. In the same year, Black Clouds Don’t Cry was premiered by Dekkadancers at the New Stage of National Theater Prague. Jirí’s first creation for NW Dance Project, “At Some Hour You Return” premiered in 2014 and has been toured by the company internationally, including the acclaimed Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. In 2016, Jirí returned to create his second original work for the company Presence of Absence.