Sławomir Woźniak – outstanding Polish dancer, choreographer and dance teacher. Born on 2 November 1967. Student of the Poznań Ballet School. He debuted in 1986 in the Wrocław Opera as Prince in Cinderella (choreography by Teresa Kujawa). He performed as soloist in the Wrocław Opera in 1986–88. From 1988 he was a soloist, and from 1989 – a first dancer of the Grand Theatre in Łódź. Also here his first role was Prince in Cinderella. Irine Fokine, who created the performance, invited him to the USA where he appeared in the Nutcracker as a Prince. In Łódź he performed leading roles both in classical and contemporary ballets. Among others, he danced John in Zorba the Greek, the role which gained him admiration of the Polish ballet audience (Łódź, Warsaw, Poznań) and in 1992 the nomination of the magazine Danse for “Revelation of the Year 1992”.
Since 1991 he has been constantly collaborating, first as a first soloist, and since 2000 as a first dancer with the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera. In the capital, he was unquestioned star, creating virtually all leading male roles in both classical and contemporary parts. In 2000 he graduated in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Music. For many years, he has been working with American young dancers at a series of summer workshops.
Prize winners of 3rd International Ballet Competition in New York (1990), Leon Woïzikovsky Medal (1991) and Stanisław Wyspiański Award for Young Artists in the field of dance (1991). In 1993 he won a Bronze Medal in the 1st World Ballet Contest in Nagoya. In 1998 he debuted as a choreographer with Only Love… to Albinoni’s music. In 2001 he collaborated with Emil Wesołowski on production of theatre and ballet performance Sacred Spring. In 2005 he created choreography Comix-Comedy staged in the ballet evening Dance According to Men (all on the Polish National Opera chamber stage). He produced his subsequent three choreographies in the Grand Theatre in Poznań; these are Nutcracker (2005), Peacock and the Maiden (2006) and Coppelia (2009). Currently, the art director of Master Ballet Academy in Phoenix (Arizona, USA).
Most important parts:
Prince (Cinderella), Young and Old Twardowski (Pan Twardowski), Sigfried and Rotbart (Swan Lake), Albert (Giselle), Basil (Don Quixote), Judas (Rehearsal), Death Omen (Wolfgang Amadeus), Wacław (Jeux), John (Zorba the Greek), Eagle-Wanderer (The Legend of Joseph), Prince and Nutcracker (The Nutcracker), Prince Désiré and the Bluebird (The Sleeping Beauty), Jean (La Gitane), Romeo and Beno (Romeo and Juliet), Don Jose (Carmen), soloist (Carmina Burana), Omen (Dies Irae), Man (Returning Waves), Poet (Les Sylphides), Salieri (Sons of the Harmony), Soloist (Harnasie), Mandarin (The Miraculous Mandarin), Dancer (The Sacred Spring), soloist (Only Love…), Colas (La fille mal gardée), D’Artagnan and Prince (Three Musketeers), Guido (La Dolce Vita), Tchaikovsky (Tchaikovsky – the Misterium of Life and Death)m Solor and the Golden Idol (Bayadere), Balanchine (Musagete), Sergei (Once in a Lifetime), Edmund Dantes (The Count of Monte Christo), Man (Comix-Comedy).
