Born on May 30, 1904 in Warsaw, Irena Jedyńska died June 2, 1987 in Skolimów. She was a Polish dancer, actress, choreographer and educator.
A graduate of the ballet school at the Grand Theater in Warsaw, she studied with Piotr Zajlich, Janina Rutkowska and Jan Walczak, among others.
Jedyńska made her debut on the stage of the Grand Theater in Warsaw. In 1919, she joined Diaghilev’s Russian Ballets and left for Paris. Until 1924, she was a soloist at Argentina’s Colón Theater. From 1924 to 1931 she was prima ballerina of the Grand Theater in Poznań. She also performed dance and acting parts at the Nowości Theater in Warsaw, the City Theater in Bydgoszcz, the Bagatela Theater in Cracow, the revue theaters Kometa, Miraż and Nowy Miraż of Warsaw, and in the touring troupe of the Association of Artists of the Łódź and Warsaw Theaters.
Jedyńska taught classical dance at the State Secondary Ballet School in Warsaw, where her students included Bożena Kociołkowska, Krystyna Mazurówna, Wojciech Wiesiołłowski, Barbara Olkusznik, Andrzej Ludwicki and Elżbieta Jaroń. She also taught dance methodology at the Choreographic Department of the National Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw, and was a pedagogue, ballet master and choreographer for the Szczecin Operetta, Musical Theater in Gdynia and the Warsaw Opera, as well as a pedagogue for the Song and Dance Ensemble “Mazowsze.”
Her most important roles include the Doll (La bouique fantastique, chor. L. Miasin), Spanish Girl (The Fairy Doll, chor. J. Ciepliński), Columbine (Columbine’s Flirt in Divertissement VIII, chor. J. Kapliński), Soloist (Chopiniana, chor. M.Statkiewicz based on Fokine), Soloist (Polovtsian Dances, chor. M. Statkiewicz based on Fokine), Zobeide (Scheherazade, chor. M. Statkiewicz based on Fokine), Bride (The Wedding in the Countryside, chor. E .Papliński), Ghost of the Night, Edelweiss and Sparkle (Tatry, chor. M. Statkiewicz), Goddess of the Underworld, Ruler of Siam, Ukrainian Girl and Star (Mr. Twardowski, chor. M. Statkiewicz), Columbine (Harlequin’s Millions, chor. J. Ciesielski) and many others.
Jedyńska choreographed a number of productions, including The Flower of Hawaii (dir. H. Lotar), La Bayadere (dir. H. Lotar), The Vagabond King (dir. A. Dlugosz), A Ball at the Opera (dir. Z. Laurentowski).
She also worked as an assistant ballet master in such performances as Till Eulenspiegel (dir. L. Wójcikowski), Coppélia (dir. L. Wójcikowski), Spanish Suite (dir. L. Wójcikowski), Romeo and Juliet (dir. J. Gogol).
She was known for her performance as Aza in the film The Cottage Outside the Village, directed by Artur Twardyjewicz.
She was the author of the textbook Tańczymy lepiej i piękniej (Warszawa, 1963). In 1982 she honorarily chaired the jury of the Fourth Dance and Choreography Competition in Gdańsk
She survived the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. After the Warsaw Uprising, she was a prisoner of the Auschwitz and Ravensbrück concentration camps. During her post-camp treatment in Sweden, she started a dance company in Kristiansund. She also worked as an educator at a ballet center in Szczecin.
Photo:
Irena Jedyńska in the operetta “Zuza.” Photo: National Digital Archive, call no. 1-K-9585-2
