A great honour befell the artists of the Polish National Ballet at the end of the season. Polish First Lady Anna Komorowska invited them to Belweder (the presidential residence) to present a special programme to the Polish president’s guests. The gala Evening at Belweder in the presence of President Bronisław Komorowski took place on 26 June 2013 on the palace terrace, on a stage specially built for the purpose. The hostess of the evening was the First Lady, supported by the general director of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, Waldemar Dąbrowski, and the director of the PNB, Krzysztof Pastor.
The programme included the Rose Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty danced by Aleksandra Liashenko, Adam Kozal, Patryk Walczak, Maksim Woitiul, and Vladimir Yaroshenko as well as a selection of the most beautiful ballet duets: Odette and Prince Siegfried’s fromSwan Lake (Maria Żuk and Sergey Popov), Tristan and Isolde’s from Tristan (Aleksandra Liashenko and Maksim Woitiul), and Fryderyk and George Sand’s from the balletChopin, the Romantic Artist (Marta Fiedler and Vladimir Yaroshenko).
Despite the uncertain weather the evening’s atmosphere was hot, with plenty of surprises. Waldemar Dąbrowski presented the First Lady with a pair of pointe shoes as a souvenir of the ballet company’s visit to Belweder. Krzysztof Pastor explained a few basic concepts of classical dance technique with the help of a presentation by Anna Czeszejko, a young dancer from the company. After the performance all the guests were invited to a cocktail party, and the PNB’s artists received special gifts. Mutual words of thanks, congratulations, friendly conversation, and photographs followed. It was an unforgettable artistic evening.
Pictured: The First Lady’s welcome (1), President Bronisław Komorowski with the First Lady and director Waldemar Dąbrowski (2), director Krzysztof Pastor with Anna Czeszejko (3), Maksim Woitiul and Aleksandra Liashenko as Tristan and Isolde (4), Vladimir Yaroshenko and Marta Fiedler as Fryderyk Chopin and George Sand (5)
Photos by Jarosław Mazurek more pictures
