Wojciech Ślęzak

First Soloist

Born

Paczków, Poland

Education

The Roman Turczynowicz State Ballet School, Warsaw

Important teachers

Zbigniew Juchnowski, Hanna Chojnacka, Jarosław Piasecki

Engagements

Ballet of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, Warsaw, from 1992, from 1993 as Coryphée, 1993-1996 as Soloist
The Kassel Ballet, Staatstheater Kassel, Germany, 1996-1998 as Soloist
Ballet of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, Warsaw, from 1998 as Soloist, 2000–2009 as First Soloist
Polish National Ballet, Warsaw, since 2009 as First Soloist

Gallery

Repertory

With the Polish National Ballet
- King Mark in Tristan (Krzysztof Pastor)
- Paris in Romeo and Juliet (Emil Wesołowski)
- Rotbart in Swan Lake (trad. / Irek Mukhamedov)
- Pas d'action in La Bayadère (trad. / Natalia Makarova)
- Karenin in Anna Karenina (Alexei Ratmansky)
- Wie lange noch? in Kurt Weill (Krzysztof Pastor)
- Mouse King in The Nutcracker (Andrzej Glegolski)
- Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker (Andrzej Glegolski)
- Prince Gremin & Onegin in Onegin (John Cranko)
- Tyrant in Chopin, the Romantic Artist (creation, Patrice Bart)
- Prince Fleur de Pois in The Sleeping Beauty (trad. / Yuri Grigorovich)
- High Brahmin in La Bayadère (trad. / Natalia Makarova)
- Chief in Le Sacre du printemps (Maurice Béjart)
- Clara's Father in The Nutcracker (Toer van Schayk & Wayne Eagling)
- General in The Nutcracker (Toer van Schayk & Wayne Eagling)
- Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker (Toer van Schayk & Wayne Eagling)
- Father in The Prodigal Son (George Balanchine)
- Cinderella's Father in Cinderella (Frederick Ashton)
- Bottom-Pyram in A Midsummer Night's Dream (John Neumeier)
- Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (Krzysztof Pastor)
- Lorenzo in Don Quixote (trad. / Alexei Fedeyechev)
- Old Soldier in The Green Table (Kurt Jooss)
- Baptista in The Taming of the Shrew (John Cranko)
- King Stanislaus Augustus in Casanova in Warsaw (Krzysztof Pastor)
- Kschessinski in Swan Lake (with new libretto, Krzysztof Pastor)
- Monsieur Duval in The Lady of the Camellias (John Neumeier)
- The Notary in Sarmatian Parable (Conrad Drzewiecki / Emil Wesołowski)
- King in The Sleeping Beauty (trad. / Yuri Grigorovich)
- Father of the Bride in Les Noces (Bronislava Nijinska / Howard Sayette)
- Seyd Pasha in Le Corsaire (trad. / (Manuel Legris)
- Captain "Bay" Middleton in Mayerling (Kenneth MacMillan)
- Prince Philipp of Coburg in Mayerling (Kenneth MacMillan)
- Innkeeper in Don Quixote (trad. / Alexei Fadeyechev)
- Prince of Courland in Giselle (trad. / Maina Gielgud)
- Old Dracula in Dracula (Krzysztof Pastor)
- The Rajah in La Bayadère (trad. Natalia Makarova)
Earlier
With the Roman Turczynowicz State Ballet School
- Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood (Zofia Rudnicka)
- Time in The Kingdom of the Autumn Leaves (creation, Kama Akucewicz)
- Grand pas from Paquita (Marius Petipa / Jarosław Piasecki)
With the Ballet of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera
- Cancan Dancer Valentin in A Brazilian in Paris (Lorca Massine)
- Yorgos in Zorba the Greek (Lorca Massine)
- Count Albrecht in Giselle (trad. / Anatoli Gridin, Irina Mikhailichenko)
- Soloist in Twilight (Hans van Manen)
- Alonso in La Gitana (creation, Pierre Lacotte after Filippo Taglioni)
- Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake (trad. / Konstantin Sergeyev)
- Friend of Colas in La fille mal gardée (Frederick Ashton)
- Sun in Carmina Burana (Antal Fodor)
- Mouse King in The Nutcracker (Andrzej Glegolski)
- Paris in Romeo and Juliet (Emil Wesołowski)
- Rite of Spring (creation, Emil Wesołowski)
- Third Symphony of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (creation, Krzysztof Pastor)
- Rossiniania (Antal Fodor)
With the Kassel Ballet
- Dorian Gray in Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray (creation, Terrance Ho Sin Hang)
- Beast in Die Schöne und das Biest (creation, Terrance Ho Sin Hang)
- Young Man in Die Schöne und das Biest (Terrance Ho Sin Hang)
and solos in
- Body & Soul – Dance Movement III (creation, Terrance Ho Sin Hang)
- Flamma Flamma (Terrance Ho Sin Hang)
- Siddhartha (creation, Terrance Ho Sin Hang)
Again with the Ballet of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera
- Duke Buckingham in The Three Musketeers (André Prokovsky)
- Mr. S. in Jeux (Emil Wesołowski)
- One of Three in The Miraculous Mandarin (creation, Emil Wesołowski)
- Jean in Miss Julie (Birgit Cullberg)
- Guido in La dolce vita (Zofia Rudnicka)
- Rotbart in Swan Lake (trad. / Irek Mukhamedov)
- General in Rite of Spring (creation, Emil Wesołowski, directed by Krzysztof Zaleski)
- Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake (trad. / Irek Mukhamedov)
- Prince Fleur de Pois in The Sleeping Beauty (trad. / Yuri Grigorovich)
- Pas d'action in La Bayadère (trad. / Natalia Makarova)
- Lead Soloist in Musagète (Boris Eifman)
- Second Soloist in Serenade (George Balanchine)
- Harmodius in Spartacus (creation, Emil Wesołowski)
- Spartacus in Spartacus (Emil Wesołowski)
- Harnaś in Harnasie (Emil Wesołowski)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky in Tchaikovsky (Boris Eifman)
- Onegin in Onegin (John Cranko)
- Master Twardowski in Master Twardowski (creation, Gustaw Klauzner)
- King Sigismund Augustus in Master Twardowski (Gustaw Klauzner)
- Karenin in Anna Karenina (Alexei Ratmansky)
- Krzesany of Wojciech Kilar (Emil Wesołowski)
- A Sort Of (Mats Ek)
- Requiem for the Hollow Men (creation, Karol Urbański)
- Petite Mort (Jiří Kylián)
With other companies
- Prince in The Nutcracker (Przemysław Śliwa), Ballet of the State Opera, Bydgoszcz, Poland
- Yorgos in Zorba the Greek (Lorca Massine), Ballet of the Wielki Theatre, Łódź, Poland
- Pas d'action in La Bayadère (Marius Petipa), Maximiliano Guerra's Joven Ballet, Buenos Aires
- Duet in Preludio para una noche estrellada (Maximiliano Guerra), Maximiliano Guerra's Joven Ballet, Buenos Aires
- Soloist in Variaciones en Ragtime (Rodolfo Lastra), Maximiliano Guerra's Joven Ballet, Buenos Aires
- Jean in Miss Julie (Birgit Cullberg), Momoko Tani Ballet Company, Tokio
- Polish Ball from the opera Ivan Susanin (Rostislav Zakharov), Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Gala Concert
Guesting
- Poland: Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Gdańsk, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Sopot & others
- France: Paris & tour (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera)
- Germany, Switzerland, Cyprus (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera)
- Argentina: Buenos Aires (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera) & tour (with Maximiliano Guerra's Joven Ballet)
- Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, São Paolo (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera)
- Japan: Tokyo (with the Momoko Tani Ballet Company)
- Canada: Montreal (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera)
- England: London, Sadler's Wells Theatre (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera)
- Russia: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre (with the Ballet of the Polish National Opera) & St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre (with the Polish National Ballet)
- China: Shanghai (with the Polish National Ballet, World Expo, 2010)
- Netherlands: The Hague (with the Polish National Ballet, Zuiderstrandtheater, 2016)

Awards

- 1990: Special Junior Prize at the 7th Dance Competition in Gdańsk, Poland
- 1999: Medal of 200 Years of Polish Ballet awarded by the Ministry of Culture
- 2011: Honorary Medal from the Ballet Foundation in Szczecin, Poland