Polish National Ballet


The Polish National Ballet is the largest and the most important ballet company in Poland. It continues a national ballet heritage, which dates to the 17th century.
Modernly it was known until 2008 as the ballet of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera. In that year the ballet received artistic autonomy reflected in the theatre's by-laws and was elevated to the rank of Polish National Ballet. Since then, its director is Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor.

Ballet events in Polish history

In 1628 a traveling Italian opera troupe created the first ballet performance in Poland. Ballet scenes were then often incorporated into operas held at the court theater. For many years it was foreign dancers who performed. Eventually in 1765 the first permanent ballet company was formed, on the initiative of the king Stanisław II August. The company functioned with some interruptions in the Saxon’s Opernhaus, the first Polish public theater. A 1766 book on ballet by the famous ballet master of France Jean-Georges Noverre was dedicated to the Polish king.
Maciej Pręczyński was the first well-known Polish dancer; he worked with Gasparo Angiolini in Venice and Vienna in the 1770s. In 1785 Stanisław II August established a company of young dancers, trained in a ballet school at a Lithuanian estate. This first professional ballet company of predominantly Polish dancers was known as His Majesty’s National Dancers. Performances were held on stage at the National Theatre building in Krasiński Square, Warsaw. Its heritage was continued by subsequent Polish companies.
During the Romantic era the National Ballet School flourished in Warsaw. After 1818 it was guided by French ballet masters Louis Thierry and Maurice Pion. Under construction 1825-1833, the Teatr Wielki then became the artistic center for both opera and ballet in Poland. The choreographer and teacher Roman Turczynowicz became a Polish ballet-master at mid-century. Several outstanding foreign masters, e.g., Filippo Taglioni, Carlo Blasis, Virgilio Calori, Pasquale Borri, José Mendez, Raffaele Grassi, and Enrico Cecchetti, worked developing Polish dancers.
During the late 19th century, Mathilde Kschessinska, a dancer of Polish extraction, became one of the leading lights of the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg.
Early in the 20th century, there were many Polish dancers who joined the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, which climbed to world renown. These included the ballet master Stanislas Idzikowski, and Leon Woizikovsky. Polish dancers also distinguished themselves in the various Ballets Russes companies that succeeded Diaghilev's. Among these were Yurek Shabelevski, Roman Jasinski, Jan Hoyer, Marian Ladre, Yurek Lazovski, and Nina Novak. Siblings Bronislava Nijinska and Vaslav Nijinsky were of Polish heritage, though they trained under the patronage of the Tsar at the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg. They danced with Ballets Russes, and both became celebrated choreographers.
During the Second Polish Republic, Nijinska headed the Balet Polski, aka Les Ballets Polonais, aka The Polish Ballets newly formed in Warsaw in 1937. This company was the brainchild of poet Jan Lechoń, and created with the assistance of M. Waclaw Jedrzejewicz, Minister of Public Education and President of the Organization Committee of the Polish Section to the Art and Technical Exhibition in Paris. The company's general director was Arnold Szyfman. For the first season,1937-1938, Nijinska created five new ballets including Baśń krakowska, to music by Michal Kondracki; Pieśń o ziemi naszej, to music by Roman Palester; Koncert E-moll Chopina, to Frédéric Chopin's B-minor piano concerto; Apollo i dziewczyna, to music by Ludomir Rozycki; and Wezwanie,'' set to a score by Boleslaw Woytowicz. This repertoire featured scenery and costumes designed by Teresa Roszkowska, Waclaw Borowski, Wladyslaw Daszewski, and Irena Lorentowicz-Karwowska. The souvenir program for this company's Covent Garden appearances states: "Every gesture and every colour, the ebb and flow of the groups, each step of the soloists, the spirit and harmony of the Polish Ballets are imbued with the artistic ideals of Bronislava Nijinska and her ardent desire that the world should see the dances of her country in their noblest and most beautiful form." At the Paris Exposition Internationale of that year, this Polish Ballet won the Grand Prix for performance, Nijinska the Gran Prix for choreography. In 1938 the Ballets Polonais was directed by Leon Wójcikowski. It appeared at the New York World's Fair in 1939, but World War II caused its closure.
Following the traumas of war, the 'Ballet of Teatr Wielki' reemerged in Warsaw. Yet the original Teatr Wielki had been almost completely destroyed during the 1939 siege of Warsaw. Eventually it was rebuilt and enlarged, in a new facility. Continuing a heritage of several centuries, the new theater opened in 1965. It housed the companies and schools for both opera and ballet, its stage being shared. The dance company later became the Polish National Ballet, which continues to rehearse and perform in Teatr Wielki.

Under new name and status

On 18 March 2009 Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor, already engaged with the Dutch National Ballet, became the director of the ballet of Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera. He took over this position with Paweł Chynowski as his proxy only under the condition that the company receive artistic autonomy. Thanks to the efforts of Teatr Wielki’s general director Waldemar Dąbrowski on 29 April 2009 the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski took the decision to separately constitute the ballet in the theater’s by-laws, under the name Polish National Ballet. With the foundation of the Polish National Ballet, the company became autonomous and works as an equal partner to the Polish National Opera.
Polish National Ballet pursues a program of major classic dance formation. It performs an academic choreographic repertoire, but also reaches for 20th-century ballet masterpieces. Invitations are extended to outstanding contemporary choreographers; it also introduces works by young Polish choreographers. With nearly 90 dancers it includes both Polish and foreign dancers and affiliated specialities. The company performs regularly at the Teatr Wielki, when it is not on tour in Poland or performing abroad.

Repertoire

Ballets staged by the Polish National Ballet from its establishing :
First female soloistsFirst male soloists

  • Chinara Alizade
  • Magdalena Ciechowicz
  • Dagmara Dryl
  • Yuka Ebihara
  • Marta Fiedler
  • Karolina Jupowicz
  • Mai Kageyama
  • Dominika Krysztoforska
  • Aleksandra Liashenko
  • Izabela Milewska
  • Maria Żuk
  • Sergey Basalaev
  • Petr Borchenko
  • Robert Gabdullin
  • Paweł Koncewoj
  • Egor Menshikov
  • Sergey Popov
  • Wojciech Ślęzak
  • Dawid Trzensimiech
  • Patryk Walczak
  • Maksim Woitiul
  • Vladimir Yaroshenko

    • On tour

  • 2010: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 18th White Night Music Festival
  • 2010: China, Shanghai, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Expo 2010
  • 2010: Norway, Bergen, Den Nye Opera, Bergen, Norway
  • 2012: Spain, Sevilla, Teatro de la Maestranza
  • 2012: Finland, Kuopio, Music Centre, Kuopio Dance Festival
  • 2013: USA, Houston, Cullen Theater, Dance Salad Festival
  • 2013: Spain, Barcelona, Gran Teatre del Liceu
  • 2013: Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre
  • 2015: USA, New York, Joyce Theatre
  • 2015: USA, Washington, Eisenhower Theater
  • 2016: Netherlands, The Hague, Zuiderstrandtheater
  • 2016: Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Krzysztof Pastor’s Birthday Gala
  • 2017: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Alexandrinsky Theatre, Dance Open Festival
  • 2018: Czech Republic, Brno, Exhibition Centre, Festival Dance Brno 100
  • 2019: Canada, Montreal, Place des Arts
  • 2019: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Alexandrinsky Theatre, Dance Open Festival
  • 2019: Germany, Osnabrück, Theater Osnabrück
  • 2019: Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre