Walery Szajewski was a dancer, assistant choreographer, ballet director and educator.
Szajewski was born on March 10, 1908. In 1928, he graduated from the Ballet School at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. From 1928 to 1935 he was a dancer and then a soloist at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. In turn, from 1935 to 1936 he performed as a soloist with Parnell’s Polish Parnell; from 1936 to 1938 as a soloist with the Ballets de Monte Carlo; from 1938 to 1939 as a soloist with The Royal Covent Garden Russian Ballet; and from 1939 to 1957 as a ballet master and soloist with the Polish-Australian Ballet in Sydney. Between 1958 and 1960 he was assistant ballet master at the Polish Dance Ensemble; at the same time – until 1964 – he served as a pedagogue of the Song and Dance Ensemble “Mazowsze.” From 1964 to 1966 he was employed as a ballet manager at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, and from 1966 to 1973 as a teacher at the State Ballet School in Warsaw. He retired in 1973.
Szajewski danced in a number of performances, including:
The Jewish Princess (based on a piece by Wacław Grubiński, choreography: Piotr Zajlich, music: Henryk Adamus, directed Paweł Owerłło; premiere: March 19, 1926, National Theatre in Warsaw).;
The Tempest (based on William Shakespeare, music: Henryk Adamus, choreography: Piotr Zajlich, directed by Stefan Jaracz premiere: June 18, 1926, National Theatre in Warsaw);
The Violet of Montmartre, music: Emmerich Kálmán; direction: Józef Sendecki, choreography: Jozef Ciesielski; premiere: December 20, 1930, Grand Theatre in Poznań;
Szajewski’s collaborations as an assistant choreographer and ballet director included such productions as:
The Haunted Manor by Stanisław Moniuszko, directed by Jerzy Merunowicz; November 20, 1965, Grand Theatre, Warsaw;
Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko, directed by Bronisław Dabrowski; premiere: November 21, 1965, Grand Theatre, Warsaw;
Mr Twardowski by Ludomir Różycki, directed and choreographed by Stanisław Miszczyk; premiere: November 22, 1965, Grand Theatre in Warsaw;
Charles Gounod’s Faust, directed by Ladislav Štros; premiere: April 6, 1966, Grand Theatre in Warsaw;
Stravinsky Night, music: Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (directed by Konrad Swinarski), Orpheus (directed and choreographed by Alfredo Rodrigues), Oedipus Rex (directed, choreographed and staged by Alfredo Rodrigues); premiered: December 11, 1965, Grand Theater in Warsaw (as ballet director);
Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, directed by Raissa Kuznetsova; premiere: January 15, 1966, Grand Theatre in Warsaw (as assistant choreographer and ballet director).
Walery Szajewski died on December 25, 1995 in Warsaw.
