Ilona Jaświn-Madejska – ballet director of the Opera Nova, dancer and dance/stage movement teacher. She graduated from the Ludomir Różycki Ballet School in Bytom. As a dancer, she worked successively for ballet companies of the Grand Theatre in Łódź, the Opera in Bydgoszcz, the Opera in the Castle in Szczecin. In 1994 she returned to Bydgoszcz, during which time, she also graduated in ballet pedagogy (MA) from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She lectured in stage movement at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz (Department of Vocal and Drama).
Since 2006 she has worked in the Opera Nova, as an assistant choreographer and teacher, and from 2010 – as ballet director. During her time as an assistant choreographer, she co-created the following premieres: Gräfin Mariza (operetta directed by Laco Adamik, choreographed by Janina Niesobska), Three colours. Chopin in Nohant (ballet choreographed by Marek Zajączkowski), Lakmé (opera, directed by Krzysztof Kelm, choreographed by Janina Niesobska), Pan Twardowski (ballet, choreographed by Marek Zajączkowski), Hansel und Gretel (opera, directed by Cezary Domagała, choreographed by Marek Zajączkowski), My Fair Lady (musical, directed by Maciej Korwin, choreographed by Joanna Semeńczuk), Le Cendrillon (ballet, choreographed by Iwona Runowska), La Gioconda (opera, directed by Krzysztof Nazar, choreographed by Zofia Rudnicka).
As the ballet director of the Opera Nova, she invited young choreographers to the theatre. They created performances in Bydgoszcz which received excellent reviews from critics: Iwona Runowska – Le Cendrillon by Prokofiev (2009); Robert Bondara – The Captive Mind (2011); Karol Urbański – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2011).
