7-23 September 2010: 2nd DAYS OF DANCE at the Teatr Wielki

   This year’s review focuses on a few themes we feel are important. We remember the 100th anniversary of the death of the father of classical ballet, Marius Petipa, by inviting you to see his famous Don Quixote in a new choreographic arrangement by Boris Eifman. We also remember the Chopin Year, showing how it was celebrated by Polish ballet companies, dance theatres, and Warsaw ballet school students. We touch on the difficult problem of ageing in dance (The Old Man and the Old Woman), an art in which youthful energy and physical fitness are age-old and inalienable elements. We juxtapose the latest Polish dance theatre projects with our Belarusian neighbours’ exploration of this genre. Finally, with the Polish National Ballet’s two evenings from the previous season (Bach Dances, Alpha and More), we present new directions in the ballet company’s activity under Krzysztof Pastor’s leadership.
    

 September 2010 – foreign performances of the Polish National Ballet

 October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

  *Chamber Hall  
**CHOREGRAPHIC WORKSHOPS
    

Here is what the Polish National Ballet's director, Krzysztof Pastor, writes about the company's new initiative:

 “Choreographic workshops should be an intrinsic element in the life of a ballet company which has the ambition of developing its own artistic image. Without a search for new paths, means of expression, and even a new language, ballet would be a rather uninteresting art, offering audiences neither surprises nor challenges, maybe even a dead art. A leading ballet company, apart from presenting great and familiar repertoire, should also be creative, they should seek their own unique artistic solutions, propose ballets by new choreographers, preferably from among the company itself. For choreographic talent to stand a chance of revealing itself and developing, however, certain conditions have to be in place. That’s why one of my first initiatives after taking over as director of the Polish National Ballet was to establish annual choreography workshops.   

This is a project important not only to our audience and to the company’s development, but also to those dancers who are thinking maturely and responsibly about their future once they end their career as ballet dancers - so that they can see what it’s like to be a choreographer, work organizer, production manager, stage manager, advertising campaign initiator, author of texts, programme editor, costume designer, technical crew member, etc.    

All the artists who decide to take part in the project should do so on a purely volunteer basis - in order to develop the necessary determination and ability to persuade others not only to undertake creative work but also to make an extra effort. At the same time, they have maximum freedom as far as artistic and organizational choices go, which is sure to free the great creative potential of our company. That’s why I would like the choreography workshops, their motto being Creations - also proposed by our dancers, to become a permanent element of the Polish National Ballet’s work at the Teatr Wielki, contributing to the development of Polish choreography”.

In 2009 the 1st Choreographic Workshop resulted in the premiere of ballet miniatures choreographed by five of our dancers. These were works by Eduard Bablidze, Robert Bondara, Jacek Tyski, Karol Urbański, and Natalia Wojciechowska. The most interesting piece, Robert Bondara's When You End and I Begin… to the music of Paweł Szymański, was included in the ballet company's chamber repertoire a year later. Jacek Tyski, meanwhile, was offered the opportunity to choreograph an original ballet to Polish music, and proposed In Search of Colours to the music of Grażyna Bacewicz. Both choreographies are now part of the chamber ballet evening Alpha and More.

The 2nd Choreographic Workshop in 2010 yielded choreographies by two debuting artists, Michał Chróścielewski and Anna Hop, and new miniatures by Eduard Bablidze, Robert Bondara, Jacek Tyski, Karol Urbański, and Natalia Wojciechowska. In recognition of Robert Bondara's interesting new project - The Garden's Gates to the music of Szábolcs Esztényi - director Krzysztof Pastor commissioned the young choreographer to design a new original ballet for the Polish National Ballet's chamber repertoire. The world premiere of Bondara's full-length ballet Persona, to music by Arvo Pärt, Paweł Szymański, and Aldona Nawrocka, is planned for September 2011, during the 3rd Days of Dance at the Teatr Wielki.

The 3rd Choreographic Workshop, in the 2010/2011 season, is planned for late December and early January. The new projects of the Polish National Ballet's young choreographers will be presented on the Chamber Stage on 21, 23, and 25 January 2011.