Sylwia Hefczyńska-Lewandowska was a dancer and Artistic Director of the Silesian Dance Theatre in Bytom (1995-2013). She has appeared in choreographies by some of the most renowned dance artists, including Jacek Łumiński, Conrad Drzewiecki, Hentrietta Horn, Jay Hirabayashi, Diane Elshout, Idan Cohen, Sigríður Soffía Níelsdóttir, and Kuik Swee Boon. As a dancer, teacher and choreographer she has cooperated with theaters, cultural institutions and foundations all over the world, among others in Russia, Latvia, USA, Canada, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Between 2005 and 2007, together with other European experts, she participated in a project financed by the Leonardo Da Vinci program, which laid the foundations for a new major in artistic higher education: dance theater actor.
In 2008, Hefczyńska-Lewandowska was appointed assistant professor at the Stanisław Wyspiański National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków, Department of Dance Theatre in Bytom. As an expert in Polish contemporary dance technique, she has been invited by European universities and cultural institutions to conduct practical workshops, lectures and consultations. Since 2016, she has been cooperating with Beijing Dance Ease Cultural Ltd, implementing a cultural exchange program between Central and Eastern European countries and the People’s Republic of China. She has developed and implemented research projects in the field of contemporary dance involving students of art schools, among others from Poland and China. She has authored a number of dance theater performances and appeared in productions of independent artists. An important part of her artistic and pedagogical activity involves social projects featuring persons from excluded communities, resulting in full-scale dance theater performances. Hefczyńska-Lewandowska is a laureate of the Mayor of Bytom Award for Culture “Muza 2006.”
