A dancer, choreographer and dance educator, Małgorzata Kucharska-Nowak is a graduate of the State Ballet School in Warsaw and of the Extramural Studies for Teachers of Dance at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw (currently ballet pedagogy at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (UMFC). She wrote her master’s thesis entitled Lasowiak Dances under the supervision of Professor Krystyna Rokitnicka. She studied her majors with senior lecturer MA Danuta Piasecka, Dr. Krystyna Świderska and Prof. Zbigniew Korycki. She was a three-time scholarship holder of the Hungarian government to study Hungarian dances at the Budapest Ballet School and Magyar Állami Népi Együttes. She acquired her knowledge and practical skills in folk dances under the tutelage of outstanding Polish regionalists Andrzej Chowaniec, Andrzej Jakubiec, Jan Karpiel (highland dances), Grażyna Dąbrowska (Kurpie dances), Paweł Szefka (Kashubian dances), Janina Marcinkowa (Silesian dances), Wanda Kaniorowa (Lublin dances) and Franciszek Kotula (Rzeszów dances). She furthered her education in dance by attending seminars and workshops conducted by Zbigniew Kiliński (mazur), Zofia Steszewska (musicology), Roderyk Lange (dance anthropology), Boris Bregvadze, Lyudmila Sereshnikova, Lyudmila Kovaleva, Thomas Lund (classical dance, classical dance didactics, ballet literature), Pilar Martinez, Teo Barea (Spanish dance), Anatoly Borzov (Russian dance), Conrad Drzewiecki, Andre Tyson, Joe Alter and Mia Kokhuis (contemporary dance).
Kucharska Nowak was a longtime teacher of classical, folk and character dance at ballet schools in Bytom (1972-1975) and Warsaw (1975-1990). Since 1983, she has been affiliated with the Faculty of Choral Conducting, Music Education, Rhythm and Dance at the UMFC. She also taught dance courses for eurhythmics students (1990-2003). As a supervisor of pedagogical practice and lecturer of characteristic dance, folk dance, Polish national dances (and others having Polish folk and national dances with didactics in their title), she worked with students of ballet pedagogy, choreography and dance theory. From 1994 to 2010, she was the head of the ballet pedagogy and dance programs, respectively. She was responsible for the substantive development and organizational work of the faculty, ensuring top-notch teaching staff and adapting study plans to the ever-changing challenges of the contemporary art of dance. It was her initiative to introduce into the curricula of ballet pedagogy regular internships and pedagogical diplomas in ballet schools, as well as the so-called variable lectures with world-renowned dancers, choreographers and pedagogues from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hamburg, Budapest and Barcelona.
Kucharska-Nowak was the artistic supervisor of dance composition graduation diplomas, held on the stages of the UMFC and the Grand Theater – Polish National Opera in Warsaw. She organized and provided artistic supervision for the annual ballet pedagogy concerts, including the faculty’s anniversary concerts. She promoted and reviewed bachelor’s and master’s theses of students of ballet pedagogy, choreography and dance theory, and eurhythmics. She was the initiator and co-founder of the Postgraduate Studies in Dance Theory, which she directed until 2016. She was the originator and lecturer of the National Polish Dance Forum organized periodically at the UMFC, whose three editions were devoted to the polonaise and krakowiak (2014), followed by the kujawiak and oberek (2016), and the last one to the mazurka (2017). She is the co-author of three volumes on Polish dances, published as Dance Forum proceedings, partly devoted to the classification of steps and figures of Polish national dances.
In the 1980s, she was an expert member of the Council of Experts on Folklore of the Ministry of Culture and Art; she co-created the systematics of steps and figures of Polish national dances. She is a member of the Polish Section of the CIOFF (International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts). She has served on the jury of National Polish Dance Tournaments and other choreographic competitions devoted to Polish folk and national dances. She has worked as a choreographer, pedagogue and content consultant for Polish and foreign song and dance ensembles – including Magyar Állami Népi Együttes (Hungary), União Juventus (Brazil). She taught and created choreographies of Polish national dances at the ballet school in Arenys de Mar (Spain), the ballet school in Budapest (Hungary), the A. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and the Academy of Culture and Arts in St. Petersburg (Russia).
Awards and decorations:
Award of the President of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music (III degree) – 1990
Collective award of the minister (MKiS) – 1993
Award of the President of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music (II degree) – 1997
Award of the President of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music (II degree) – 2000
Award of the President of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music (II degree) – 2001
Award of the President of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (II degree) – 2009
Medal for meritorious service to the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music – 2009
Silver medal for Meritorious Service to Culture Gloria Artis – 2010
Pictured: Małgorzata Kucharska-Nowak. Photo by Katarzyna Sobiszewska
