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49-574: Prior to 2008 it was known as the ballet of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera . In that year the ballet company received artistic autonomy reflected in the theatre's by-laws; it was elevated to the rank of Polish National Ballet. The director since has been Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor . In 1628 a traveling Italian opera troupe created the first ballet performances in Poland. Ballet scenes were then often incorporated into operas held at

98-679: A character dancer . His youthful career flourished with Ballets Russes. He and dance partner Lydia Sokolova were eventually married. The very popular and innovative company performed cutting-edge choreographies by Fokine, Nijinsky, Massine, Nijinska, and Balanchine. Unfortunately, Diaghilev died in 1929 and his company folded. Thereafter, Woizikovsky's dance work often involved the repertoire of Ballets Russes. For various companies he also served as ballet master, and wrote choreography. In 1916 in Lausanne he joined Sergei Diaghilev 's company Ballets Russes . Apparently, Diaghilev's Polish secretary on

147-501: A Russian name) and Woizikovsky were both dancers in Ballets Russes, she from 1913 and he from 1916. In 1919 despite each being attached to another, they fell in love. In their dancing, they had sometimes been paired for performances, winning acclaim. In love, they began secretly to write to each other. Eventually, this uneasy situation was found out. It led to public confrontations, involving their alienated spouses (both dancers in

196-486: A certain pas de deux , a piece which in rehearsal "we enjoyed dancing though we did not think it anything special". Yet when their performance of it finished "the applause was thunderous". They took an "embarrassing" number of curtain calls. Sokolova describes Woizikovsky as "never an actor, his talent was for genuine dancing". He had "a phenomenal photographic mind" which, e.g., allowed him to commit to memory pages of dance notations for Le Sacre Du Primtemps . When Leon

245-598: A dancer of Polish extraction, from the 1890s was one of the leading lights of the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. From its early years many Polish dancers had joined the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev , which climbed to world renown. These included the ballet master Stanislas Idzikowski , Leon Woizikovsky (orig. Wójcikowski), and Mieczyslaw Pianowski . Polish dancers also distinguished themselves in

294-484: A furor, the final performance climaxing with a fifteen-minute ovation." Further stops in Australia and New Zealand similarly inspired the public, which knew little first-hand of Diaghilev's ballet repertoire. Yet company's top management (the owner's rep and the attorney) quarreled and split. This eventually led to the rise of "artistic differences" between Jan Hoyer the régisseur (stage manager) and Woizikovsky. In turn

343-404: 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

392-403: A recruiting assignment had found several dancers including the sixteen-year-old Woizikovsky. In the difficult circumstances of war-time Europe, the company took to the road in order to perform. Traveling twice to America, it included the world famous Vaslav Nijinsky . In a group that went to Spain with Diaghilev, Woizikovsky studied there flamenco and Spanish dance. Leonid Massine was then

441-469: 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

490-447: The Teatr Wielki (Grand Theater) then became the artistic center for both opera and ballet in Poland. At mid-century the choreographer and teacher Roman Turczynowicz became the ballet master. Also, 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. Mathilde Kschessinska (Matylda Krzesińska),

539-568: The Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts , the rector, Adam Myjak , and the dean of the sculpture department, Antoni Janusz Pastwa . The sculpture was unveiled by Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski on May 3, 2002, to mark Constitution Day. For over 170 years the Grand Theatre (now "the Grand Theatre and Polish National Opera") has been Poland's grandest opera and ballet institution. The 2023 International Opera Awards took place at

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588-519: The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the Germans shot civilians in the burnt-out ruins. The plaque to the right of the main entrance commemorates the suffering and heroism of the victims of fascism. Between 1945 and 1965, the company performed on other stages while the theatre building was being restored and expanded to the designs of Bohdan Pniewski , under the supervision of Arnold Szyfman . When

637-585: The 1921 production of Petipa's The Sleeping Princess . Woizikovsky was in the production of her iconic Les Noces in 1923. The following year he played roles in Les Biches (as one of the two Athletes) and in Le Train bleu (as the Golfer). The Golfer role was "a pipe-smoking playboy, based on Edward, Prince of Wales". Lydia Sokolova later wrote about Woizikovsky's performance in the 'beach ballet' that

686-737: The Cologne Ballet and for the Royal Flemish Ballet . He was ballet master for Massine's Ballet Europeo, e.g., at the 1960 Festival of Ballet in Genoa. He aided in the reconstruction of Nijinska's choreography for Le Train Bleu . Until the mid-1960s he was teaching at the Cologne Institute for Theatre Dance, and until 1974 at Bonn University . Then he returned to Warsaw. British ballerina Lydia Sokolova (she had taken

735-407: The Grand Theatre. The National Opera features two auditoriums and a museum: Before the building stand two statues by Jan Szczepkowski , of Wojciech Bogusławski , the father of Polish National Theatre, and of Stanisław Moniuszko , the father of Polish National Opera. Leon Woizikovsky Leon Woizikovsky , originally Léon Wójcikowski (20 February 1899, Warsaw - 23 February 1975, Warsaw)

784-584: The Miller (with Sokolova as the Miller's wife); later he played the Corregidor. In 1920: Massine's Le Astuzie and Pulcinella . In 1921 he took the part of 'the Negro' in the ballet Scheherazade , a part famously danced earlier by Nijinsky, and latter by Massine. In 1921 Bronislava Nijinska became the company's choreographer. Woizikovsky performed in the 'Three Ivans', designed by Nijinska, added to

833-819: 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 ( La Légende de Cracovie), to music by Michal Kondracki; Pieśń o ziemi naszej ( Le Chant de la Terre), to music by Roman Palester; Koncert E-moll Chopina (Concerto de Chopin), to Frédéric Chopin's B-minor piano concerto; Apollo i dziewczyna ( Apollon et la Belle), to music by Ludomir Rozycki; and Wezwanie (Le Rappel), set to

882-558: The Polish National Ballet, which continues to rehearse and perform in Teatr Wielki . 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

931-539: The Teatr Wielki, when it is not on tour in Poland or performing abroad. Ballets staged by the Polish National Ballet from its establishing (year, ballet, choreographer): Grand Theatre, Warsaw The Grand Theatre, Warsaw ( Polish : Teatr Wielki w Warszawie ), or the Great Theatre—National Opera ( Polish : Teatr Wielki—Opera Narodowa ), is a theatre and opera complex situated on

980-810: 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

1029-480: The company he choreographed two ballets, Port Said (music by K. Konstantinov) and L'Amour sorcier ( de Falla ). In 1935 and 1936 the company visited London and Paris. As the "ballet master and leading male dancer" Woizikovsky joined Wassily de Basil 's company at Covent Garden . On a 62-member tour to Australia in 1936, the company opened in Adelaide where their dance arts became "a revelation". They "created

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1078-599: The company's choreographer. In his ballets Woizikovsky performed, starting with Les Meninas in 1916, and in 1917 Parade and Contes Russes . That year also Woizikovsky in Les Femmes de bonne humeur masterfully played a dinner waiter who mimed the dishes ordered, e.g., spaghetti. In 1919 in La Boutique Fantasque he danced the tarantella with Lydia Sokolova , and in Le Tricorne he played

1127-719: The company's dancers then divided into two opposing groups. Yet outsiders, apparently, were little aware. In 1938 Woizikovsky succeeded Bronislava Nijinska as director of the recently-formed state-sponsored Ballet Polonais in Warsaw. He led the company to the 1939 World's Fair in New York City . Yet when the company arrived back home in Poland, both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were about to invade, starting World War II. He managed to escape, rejoining Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil in France. This company spent most of

1176-474: The company) and each other. Diaghilev voiced his early disapproval. Sokolova had become elated, then fell woefully depressed. Nonetheless, the relationship endured its troubles, and bloomed, leading to their marriage. The two then thrived for a time, sharing their lives as principal dancers in Ballets Russes, and briefly in other dance companies. Much later Sokolova would write, "If only he had resisted gambling, we might have been so happy." In 1929 on vacation in

1225-541: The company, Woizikovsky got ballet roles, e.g., in Balanchine's Prodigal Son of 1929 (as a companion to the son). When Diaghilev died in 1929, his Ballets Russes company disbanded. Woizikovsky was thirty when Diaghilev died in 1929. That year he managed to join Pavlova's ballet company, which was often on tour. It turned out to be the very last years of this famous traveling dance ensemble. At The Hague in 1931

1274-463: The court theater. For many years it was primarily foreign dancers who performed. They served as exemplars for their Polish counterparts. 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 (opera house), the first Polish public theater. A 1766 book on ballet by

1323-488: The defeat of the November Uprising caused the idea to be abandoned. The platform above the main entrance meant for the quadriga remained empty for nearly 200 years. Finally, in 2002, at the initiative of the Grand Theatre's then-general director, Waldemar Dąbrowski, the sculpture that had been envisioned many years earlier came to adorn the façade. The new, contemporary quadriga was designed by professors at

1372-586: 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

1421-654: The famous ballet master of France Jean-Georges Noverre was dedicated to the Polish king. Maciej Pręczyński (Prenczyński) was the first well-known Polish dancer. He worked with Gasparo Angiolini in Venice and in Vienna during the 1770s. In 1785 Stanisław II August established a company of young dancers, taught by a ballet school at an estate in Lithuania. This first professional ballet company of predominantly Polish dancers

1470-621: The historic Theatre Square in central Warsaw , Poland . The Warsaw Grand Theatre is home to the Polish National Ballet and has a seating capacity of over 2,000. The Warsaw Grand Theatre was inaugurated on 24 February 1833 with a production of Rossini 's The Barber of Seville . After the building's bombing and near-complete destruction in World War II , it was rebuilt and reopened on 19 November 1965 after having been closed for over twenty years. The original building

1519-656: The next six years of war touring in the Americas. In 1945 Woizikovsky returned to devastated Warsaw. There he began to teach dance at the Opera school of Teatr Wielki (Grand Theater). In London Woizikovsky choreographed several ballets, staging his Petrushka in 1958 and his Sheherazade in 1960. These productions were for the London Festival Ballet , which he later served as ballet master. From time to time he staged other Diaghilev-era ballets, e.g., for

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1568-576: The pinnacle of the art. Both were choreographers for Diaghilev, the older Nijinsky before the war, Nijinska during the 1920s. 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

1617-474: The restored theatre was opened to the public on November 19, 1965, it was one of the most imposing and best-equipped state-of-the-art theatres in Europe. The Polish National Opera was the largest theatre in the world. According to Antonio Corazzi 's 1825 plans, the Grand Theatre's front façade was meant to feature a triumphal sculpture of Apollo, patron of the arts, driving a chariot drawn by four horses. However,

1666-744: The source of contention being performance roles, especially for Le Tricorne . As a result, he left the company in 1934. During the early 1930s, along with other Ballets Russes dancers ( Karsavina , Idzikowski , Lopokova , Spessivtseva ), he worked with the Vic-Wells company of Ninette de Valois in London. These well-known performers then provided "some legitimacy" to her nascent ballet company, which evolved to become The Royal Ballet . In 1934 he formed his own company, Les Ballets de Leon Woizikovsky. His dancers included Blinova, Tarakanova, Raievska, Froman, Eglevsky , Youskevitch , and Sokolova . For

1715-441: The south of France, at Le Lavandou , Lydia opened a newspaper carrying news of the sudden death in Venice of Sergei Diaghilev. Voicing her sorrow, she showed it to Leon. "As the awful truth sank into my consciousness, my knees gave way... . When I looked up at last Leon was gone. Then I saw him in the distance walking along the edge of the sea, kicking the water with his foot." Sokolova remembered that she and Woizikovsky performed

1764-540: 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 (also called the Opera Narodowa [National Opera]). 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

1813-470: The universal comrade was chosen to lead it. Diaghilev sauntered toward the group with a face of thunder. Leon went up to him and tried to put the dancers' point of view in some detail. After listening to him in silence, Diaghilev said, 'Leon, where are your friends?' When Leon looked around, there was not a soul in sight." Circa 1916 at Hondarribia on the north coast of Spain near the French border, Sokolova

1862-559: The various Ballets Russes companies that succeeded Diaghilev's. Among these were Yurek Shabelevski, Roman Jasinski , Marian Ladre, Yurek Lazovski, and Nina Novak . Siblings Bronislava Nijinska and Vaslav Nijinsky were of Polish heritage, though Vatsa and Broni trained under the patronage of the Tsar at the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg. They danced with Ballets Russes, Nijinsky being celebrated internationally as he reached

1911-580: The world renowned Anna Pavlova suddenly died at the age of forty-nine. Woizikovsky then signed with the new company Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo . It'd been formed by René Blum and Wassily de Basil in order to continue the project started by the late Diaghilev. Many of his former dancers had been recruited, and also his choreographers Balanchine and Massine. In 1932 Woizikovsky danced with Irina Baronova in Jeux d'Enfants , with designs by Henri Matisse . A dispute unfortunately arose between him and Massine,

1960-447: Was Le Train Bleu : "Leon discovered me in a bathing hut" and removed [her] wrap. He "took a good look at me, put his pipe in his pocket, and danced with me the famous Train bleu waltz. He had to throw me up spinning in the air, then catch me as I came down." It was difficult "because my woollen costume was impossible to grip". For the choreographer George Balanchine , newly arrived from Russia, and also for Massine who had returned to

2009-538: Was a Polish dancer and ballet master, and later choreographer and teacher. He first came to prominence as a member of the Ballets Russes . Later he worked with various ballet companies, e.g., Pavlova, de Basil, de Valois, Ballet Polonaise, Massine, the London Festival, the Royal Flemish. Born in Warsaw, Woizikovsky trained in dance at its Grand Theatre , and with Enrico Cecchetti . He became known as

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2058-458: Was also here that the Italian choreographer Virgilius Calori produced Pan Twardowski (1874), which (in the musical arrangement first of Adolf Sonnenfeld and then of Ludomir Różycki ) has for years been part of the ballet company's repertoire. During the 1939 battle of Warsaw , the Grand Theatre was bombed and almost completely destroyed, with only the classical façade surviving. During

2107-435: Was an inspiration to drama." The theatre presented operas by Władysław Żeleński , Ignacy Jan Paderewski , Karol Szymanowski and other Polish composers, as well as ballet productions designed by such choreographers as Roman Turczynowicz, Piotr Zajlich and Feliks Parnell. At the same time, the repertoire included major world opera and ballet classics, performed by the most prominent Polish and foreign singers and dancers. It

2156-583: Was built close by in the Saxon Garden . Summer performances were given annually, from the repertories of the Grand and Variety ( Rozmaitości ) theatres. Józef Szczublewski writes that during this time, even though the country had been partitioned out of political existence by its neighbors, the theatre flourished: "the ballet roused the admiration of foreign visitors; there was no equal troupe of comedians to be found between Warsaw and Paris, and Modrzejewska

2205-458: Was designed in a neoclassical style by architects Antonio Corazzi and Chrystian Piotr Aigner , and later restored by Bohdan Pniewski . The Theatre was built on Theatre Square between 1825 and 1833, replacing the former building of Marywil , from Polish classicist designs by the Italian architect Antonio Corazzi of Livorno , to provide a new performance venue for existing opera, ballet, and drama companies active in Warsaw. The building

2254-441: Was in his early-twenties, she writes, Diaghilev offered him an opportunity to try choreography, but it was too early in his career. In an episode circa 1924, two dancers wanted to strike for a raise in salary against Diaghilev and Ballets Russes. Yet no other dancer quite agreed with them; the strike failed. The dancers then decided that after the night's performance: "[A] small deputation should address Diaghilev... and Leon being

2303-676: Was known as His Majesty’s National Dancers (1785-1794). Performances were held on stage at the National Theatre building in Krasiński Square , Warsaw. Its royal heritage was continued by subsequent Polish companies. In Warsaw uring the Romantic era the National Ballet School flourished. After 1818 it was guided by two French ballet masters Louis Thierry and Maurice Pion . Under construction from 1825 to 1833,

2352-430: Was remodeled several times and, in the period of Poland's political eclipse from 1795 to 1918, it performed an important cultural and political role in producing many works by Polish composers and choreographers. It was in the new theatre that Stanisław Moniuszko 's two best-known operas received their premieres: the complete version of Halka (1858), and The Haunted Manor (1865). After Frédéric Chopin , Moniuszko

2401-484: Was the greatest figure in 19th-century Polish music, for in addition to producing his own works, he was director of the Warsaw Opera from 1858 until his death in 1872. While director of the Grand Theatre, Moniuszko composed The Countess , Verbum Nobile , The Haunted Manor and Paria , and many songs that make up 12 Polish Songbooks . Also, under Moniuszko's direction, the wooden Summer Theatre (seating 1,065)

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