Ciepliński Jan, *10 May 1900 Warsaw, †17 April 1972 New York, Polish dancer, choreographer, teacher. Between 1909 and 1918, he attended the Warsaw Ballet School; from 1918 to 1921, he was a ballet dancer at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. On 14 April 1921, he made his debut as a choreographer with a concert, the proceeds of which he donated to his teacher, J. Walczak. In 1921–22, he was a soloist in A. Pavlova’s ballet company. In 1922, he formed his own company – the J. Ciepliński Ballet – which collaborated with the Polish Theatre in Katowice (1922–23), the Grand Theatre in Poznań (1923–24) and Na Pohulance Theatre in Vilnius (1924–25); he also performed in Vienna (summer 1924) and in the Eastern Borderlands (summer 1925). Between 1925 and 1927, Ciepliński was a leading figure in S. Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes; between 1927 and 1931, he was a choreographer at the Kungliga Svenska Baletten in Stockholm; and between 1931 and 1934, he worked at the opera house in Budapest (Magyar Király Operaház). During the 1934–35 season, he was director of the ballet at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, which he reorganised and modernised. Following an incident with S. Lifar during the latter’s guest performance in Warsaw in February 1935, Ciepliński resigned from his post. Between 1935 and 1937, he worked as a choreographer with the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and, on an occasional basis, with the opera house in Budapest. In 1937, he organised a group of outstanding Polish soloists who performed on tour in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and subsequently in various Polish cities. During the 1938–39 season, Ciepliński was the choreographer of the Polish Representative Ballet; between 1940 and 1943, he directed the ballet at the Warsaw Theatre, for which the Directorate of Underground Resistance court sentenced him to infamy. Between 1943 and 1948, he was the choreographer at the opera in Budapest. From 1948 to 1958 he lived in London, where he founded a ballet studio in 1950, and from 1959 to 1972 in New York, where he ran his own ballet school. He published articles in the Polish diaspora press and wrote the book Szkic dziejów baletu polskiego (London 1956). He collaborated with dance troupes of the Polish diaspora and, occasionally, with professional ballet companies. Short ballets dominated his work; Ciepliński devoted much attention to Polish music and dance; he was the first to introduce the music of K. Szymanowski to the ballet stage (Prelude, 1921), and he popularised the Silesian trojak.
Ballets: Preludium 1921, music by K. Szymanowski; Pieśni muezzina szalonego i Słopiewnie 1925, music by K. Szymanowski; Harnasie 1938, music by K. Szymanowski; Bajka 1922, music by S. Moniuszko; Zefir i Flora 1925, to music by S. Moniuszko; Rapsodia litewska 1922, to music by M. Karłowicz; Prometeusz 1922, to music by L. van Beethoven; Don Juan 1925, music by Ch.W. Gluck.
Literature: J. Pudełek Balet J. Cieplińskiego, “Pamiętnik Teatralny” 1996 No. 1/2.
