Jan Komárek was born in Prague where he studied painting and graphic design at Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. After emigrating to France in 1983, he formed the Mimo Theatre and worked as a clown and puppeteer. After two years he moved to Toronto, Canada, where he co-founded the Sound Image Theatre, an image-based, poetic theatre working with live music. Several times he received the prestigious Dora Mavor Moore Award: for the best play, the best set and light design and the best music. He gradually started to work as a light designer for other professional theatre and dance companies in Canada. Jan moved back to Prague in 2001, gaining reputation within the alternative scene with his own shows and light design: Dance of Paper Dancers, Probouzení genia loci, Kampa sonáta, Crime and Punishment (in co-operation with NANOHACH dance company) or Utroby krávy. He was voted The Theatre Personality of the Year 2009 be the Next Wave Festival. He also received the Light Design Prize from the international jury at the Czech Dance Platform festival 2010. In his creations Jan approaches motion, sound and light as inseparable elements, creating them simultaneously. He draws his inspiration from images, be they paintings, drawings or photographs, as well as from the look and personality of individual performers.