Danuta Piasecka is a dancer, certified ballet mistress, reconstructor of traditional ballet literature, methodologist of academic classical and characteristic dance.
In 1963, she graduated from the State Ballet School in Poznań in the class of Olga Sławska-Lipczyńska. From 1963 to 1968, she studied at the Faculty of Ballet at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory and at the Pedagogical Department at the A. Vaganova Academic Ballet School in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), earning an MFA degree. Her knowledge, skills and competence were shaped by, among others: Vera Sergeyevna Kostrovitskaya, Natalia Alexandrovna Kamkova, Inna Borisevna Zubkovskaya, Feia Ivanovna Balabina, Nina Viktorovna Bielkova, Boris Yakovlevich Bregvadze, Alexander Ivanovich Pushkin (classical dance, methodology of teaching classical dance); Tanya Bazilevska-Buyanovskaya, Ninel Alexandrovna Petrova, Margarita Nikolayevna Alfimova (ballet literature); Nikolay Nikolayevich Sergebriennikov (partnering); Yuliy Yakovlevich Druzhinin (character dance).
In 1968, she took part in the International Ballet Competition in Varna, where she performed: pas de deux from Act Il of the ballet Giselle, pas de deux from. Act III of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty, the duet The Bird and the Hunter (E. Grieg/L. Jakobson). After graduation, in 1968, she joined the Grand Theater in Warsaw. She was employed as a soloist from 1970 to 1989, until the end of her stage career. She performed in all ballets in the repertoire of the Grand Theater at the time, creating many roles, including solo parts. Her repertoire included, among others:
1969 – roles of Spring, Autumn, pavane in ballet Cinderella (S. Prokofiev/A. Chechinadze).
1970 – Dance with tambourines in the ballet Romeo and Juliet (S. Prokofiev/A. Chechinadze)
1971 – Juanita, Grands pas in the ballet Don Quixote (A. Minkus/A. Chechinadze).
1972 – Giselle in the ballet Giselle (A. Adam/A. Chechinadze).
1972 – leading roles in the Four Ballets (symphonic poem The Foundry of Steel (A. Mosolov/J. Lazzini)
1973 – role of the Moth and the Eastern Dancer in the ballet Master Twardowski (L. Różycki/W. Gruca)
1973 – pas de trois, pas de quatre, fiancée in the ballet Swan Lake (P. Tchaikovsky/B. Khalyov).
1974 – Sculpture I in the ballet Sculptures of Master Peter (R. Twardowski/T. Kujawa).
1974 – Clock pointer, Faith in the ballet Coppelia (L. Delibes/A. Messerer).
1975 – Chiarina in the ballet Carnaval (R. Schuman/W. Gruca).
1975 – Clara in the ballet Miss Julie in the Birgitt Culberg Ballets (B. Culberg/T. Rongstrom).
1978 – Oenone in the ballet Phaedra in the Serge Liffar Ballets (G. Auric/Liffar).
1979 – Love Bird in the ballet Scheherazade (M. Rimsky- Korsakov/R. Kuznetsova).
1979 – soloist in the Classical Symphony (S. Prokofiev/V. Yelizariev).
1980 – Eagle in the ballet Rara Avis, in Ballets by A. Mendez
1981 – waltz in C sharp minor, mazurka in D major in the ballet Les Sylphides (F.Chopin/J. Plasecki according to M. Fokine)
1982 – Zephyr and Fora in the opera The Countess (S. Moniuszko/W. Borkowski).
1982 – soloist in Myths (K. Szymanowski/T. Kujawa).
1983 – Silver Fairy in the ballet Sleeping Beauty (P. Tchaikovsky/P. Gusev).
She also performed in many ballet and opera theaters in Germany, Denmark and Italy.
From 1968 to 1995, Piasecka worked at the State Ballet School in Warsaw, teaching classical dance and ballet literature. Her students and graduates included Sylwia Dytkowska and Anna Grabka- Szpilman. In 1972, she co-created the curriculum framework for the Extramural Studies for Teachers of Dance, taking a job at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw. It is at this university, now known as the F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, that she worked in the faculty of Dance, specializing in Ballet Pedagogy as a lecturer of classical dance, classical dance didactics and ballet literature educating dance pedagogues for the needs of (primarily) Polish professional ballet education. Over the years, her distinguished graduates have included Bożena Kociołkowska, Elżbieta Jaroń, Jolanta Rybarska, Irena Tarasiewicz, Maria Bilska, Zygmunt Sidło and Kazimierz Wrzosek (teachers, artistic directors, directors of ballet schools). Since 1981, Piasecka has worked with many theaters in Italy. At Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Teatro Dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Arena di Verona, she was employed as maestra di ballo conducting ensemble classes, classical dance lessons and rehearsals of current ballet repertoire. Italy’s greatest ballerinas – Carla Fracci, Elisabetta Terabus, Margherita Parifla and Marga Nativo – honed their skills under her tutelage. Many others participated in Piasecka’s international ballet master trainings for professional dancers conducted. She has also worked as a guest pedagogue at the National Academy of Dance in Rome, and as repetiteur-pedagogue at the Slovak National Theater (Slowenskoje Narodne Divadlo) in Bratislava.
Ballet master and pedagogical activities:
1979 – Cooperation in the preparation of the premiere of Giselle at the Łódź Grand Theater.
1980 – 1981- Maître de ballet (Maestra di ballo) at Teatro Massimo di Palermo (Palermo/Italy).
1985 – 1986- Maître de ballet (Maestra di ballo) at Teatro Comunale di Firenze (Palermo/Italy).
1987 – Lecturer of the Stage Inaugurale summer course at the Florence Dance Center (Florence/Italy).
1988 – lecturer of the summer course Nel nome di Tersicore at Teatro Tenda in Florence (Italy).
1988 – Stage di Danza Classica con Danuta Piacecka (Caserta/Italy).
1989 – Maître de ballet (Maestra di ballo) at Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma (Rome/Italy).
1989 – Lecturer of the winter classical dance course at II Centro Studi Danra (Caserta/Italy).
1990 – Grand pas from the ballet Paquita; Les Sylphides – preparation of a stage performance for the graduation exam of the class conducted (Grand Theater in Warsaw) 1990.
1992 – lecturer of the summer course Vacanze con la Danza (Grado/Italy).
1994 – lecturer of the summer course Stage Internazionale di Danza (Roncegno/Italy)
1995 – Pas d’action from La Bayadère ballet – preparation of a stage performance for the graduation exam of the class conducted (Grand Theater in Warsaw)
1998 – lecturer in classical dance and ballet literature at the National Academy of Dance in Rome (Academia Nationale di Danza, Roma);
1995 onwards (several times) – preparation of students of the Dance major for stage performances at the UMFC Concert Hall.
2010- 2011- ballet master at Slovenske Narodne Divadlo (Bratislava/Italy).
2013- Maître de ballet (Maestra di ballo) at Venezia Balletto A.S.D – Centro di Formazione Profesionale (Venice Italy).
Awards, honorary titles:
1987- Silver Cross of Merit (Grand Theater in Warsaw).
1989- Premio Europeo Lorenzo il Magnifico (Accademia Intemazionale Medicea – Florence/Italy).
1989- Honorary Senator of the International Academy of Medicine in Florence (Accademia Internazionale Medicea Florence/Italy).
2011 – badge of honor “Meritorious for Polish Culture”
2018 – silver medal “Meritorious for Culture Gloria Artis.”
Photos:
Danuta Piasecka, dancer. Portrait photograph, National Digital Archive, ensemble: Edward Hartwig Photographic Archive, call no.: 3/42/0/1/401/4.
Danuta Piasecka, dancer. Portrait photograph, National Digital Archive, ensemble: Edward Hartwig Photographic Archive, call no.: 3/42/0/1/401/9.
Danuta Piasecka, dancer. Portrait photograph, National Digital Archive, ensemble: Edward Hartwig Photographic Archive, call no.: 3/42/0/1/401/8.
