Photo: TVP archive.
Kristóf Szabó from Warsaw won Poland’s national finals of Eurovision Young Dancers taking place on 7 April at the studio of TVP Kultura. The 19-year-old will represent Poland at the international finals to be held at the Baltic Opera, Gdansk, on 14 June this year.
The national finals saw the rivalry of ten dancers chosen on the basis of their artistic achievements so far by TVP Kultura, Polish national broadcaster’s culture channel, Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Institute of Music and Dance. Each of the participants performed a 1.5-minute solo programe set to the music of his or her own choice, which was followed by a group performance prepared under the direction of Jacek Tyski, choreographer and soloist at the Polish National Ballet.
“The choice was very difficult, all the ten dancers are very talented, but I believe that Kristof Szabó has the greatest chance of winning the Eurovision Young Dancers contest in two months’ time,” said Ewa Wycichowska, chair of the jury, providing justification for the verdict she and the other members, Jacek Przybyłowicz and Grzegorz Pańtak, made on Saturday.
The international finals will take place on 14 June at the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, featuring representatives of ten European states: Armenia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and Ukraine.
Kristóf Szabówas born in 1994. He is a final-year student at the Roman Turczynowicz Ballet School in Warsaw. He took part in the international dance workshops in Berlin, which were supported by William Forsythe and the Semperoper Ballett Dresden, and conducted by David Dawson, Patrick Armand, Aron S. Watkin, Ana Catalina Roman, Laura Graham, and Rebecca Galdstone.
Kristóf also participated in such projects as the Marta Graham Dance Technique Course with Pascalina Noel in Kiev (2012), dance workshops with Piotr Nardelli and Andrzej Ziemski in Warsaw (2011 and 2012), as well as dance workshops with Alex Wong in Mikołajki (2010). In 2008-2011 he was member of the ensemble Reliese. In 2011-2013 he completed traineeship with the Polish National Ballet (Cinderella, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King). In 2007 and 2008 Kristóf performed in the musical Akademia Pana Kleksa [The Academy of Mr Klex] with Warsaw’s Musical Theatre Roma. He also played the part of Antek in TVP2’s series Głęboka woda [Deep Water].
Kristóf Szabó is one of the laureates of the International Contest of Classical and Contemporary Choreography “Thought – Stream” held in Kiev, Ukraine, and a participant in the international competition Złote pointy [Golden Pointe Shoes] held in Szczecin and the choreography contest “1,2,3…Taniec” [1,2,3… Dance] in Kraków.
Website of Eurovison Young Dancers:
http://www.youngdancers.tv/page/gdansk-2013
Website of the Polish finals:
