Wojciech Ślęzak

First Soloist

Wojciech Ślęzak

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)
  •  

    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)

      • and solos in
    • 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)

      • and solos in
    • 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