Our long-time leading soloist, Principal Maksim Woitiul decided to bring his dazzling dance career to an end. He had been working as a coach with our company for a few years and supported us for the last two seasons as a ballet master leading rehearsals for selected shows. Starting from the beginning of 2023/2024 season he becomes a full-time ballet master with the Polish National Ballet. Similarly, our Soloist Emilia Stachurska bids farewell to the stage and having worked with the company as an ad hoc coach before, takes over as a regular ballet mistress with the PNB.
Leaving our company is Principal Melissa Abel, who returns to her native USA, while Principal Magdalena Ciechowicz is continuing her now four-year long break from our stage Joining the ranks of Principals are Korea's Jaeeun Jung and Japan's Ryota Kitai, both well-known to the Warsaw audiences.
Pictured: Principals Jaeeun Jung and Ryota Kitai in Giselle. Both reprise the roles this October. Photo by Marta Wódz
We are thrilled to welcome the arrival of Latvia's ballet star Evelina Godunova and former principal dancer of the Staatsballett Berlin, who will soon debut on our stage as Lucy in Krzysztof Pastor's Dracula. Considering her rich experience gained in Riga, Seoul, and Berlin and extensive repertoire (Giselle, Kitri, Gamzatti, Odette-Odile, Aurora and Florina, Klara, Juliet, and more) our new Principal will be an enormous asset to our company.
Our Irish coryphée Kilian Smith has left Warsaw to continue his career at the Zürich Ballett, while five corps dancers who had debuted in small solo roles last season have been promoted to coryphées: Daria Majewska, Hannah Cho from Korea, Japan's Aoi Choji and Yume Okano and our Finnish dancer Marko Juusela.
Agnieszka Jankowska, Anna Lorenc, Margarita Simonova and Svetlana Tuchak are back from maternity leave, while soloists Anna Czeszejko and Palina Rusetskaya and coryphée Paulina Jurkowska will take a longer break from dancing to focus on their growing families.
With the start of the new season, the Polish National Ballet receives a boost of youthful energy with the creation of PNB Junior by Krzysztof Pastor. The 10-person strong group of mostly Polish dancers freshly graduated from local ballet schools. The junior company will work separately from the major company, be offered tailor-made master classes, and present their own artistic programme. The new initiative is supported by the Polish ministry of culture.
