Krzyszkowska, Maria (EN)

Krzyszkowska Maria, *11 November 1925 Warsaw, †28 September 2014 Legionowo (nursing home), Polish dancer and ballet director. She studied at the I. Szymańska School of Artistic Dance and Rhythmics in Warsaw, and during the occupation and after the war with L. Wójcikowski (1899–1975), a former dancer of the famous Ballets Russes of S. Diaghilev; she also attended singing and piano lessons. In 1946–47, she performed in venues and on stages in Kraków and Łódź in a duet with Wójcikowski, whom she soon married. As his wife in 1950–61, she established a strong position on the Polish stage; she was successively a soloist in the ballet of the Teatr Nowy in Warsaw (1947–50), prima ballerina of the Poznań Opera (1950–53) and soloist of the State Opera in Warsaw (1953–61). After separating from Wójcikowski in 1960, his departure from the country and divorce, she became involved with the chorister and eventually opera soloist Zbigniew Nowicki (1930–90), who was, above all, an influential activist of the theatre organisation of the Polish United Workers’ Party, who supported her career behind the scenes for years; however, she married him only shortly before his death. She soon received the title of prima ballerina of the Teatr Wielki, with its temporary seat at Nowogrodzka Street (1962–65), and then of the rebuilt Teatr Wielki (1965–77). She ended her career as a dancer (usually completed by women at the age of 40) only at the age of 52, performing a small Spanish dance in G. Bizet’s opera Carmen in mid-1977. Throughout all these years, she took part in numerous stage concerts in Poland and abroad, as well as in TVP programmes.

As a dancer, she was the last Polish ballet diva in the old style, who navigated the social and political reality of the Polish People’s Republic very well. From childhood, focused on an artistic career, ambitious, disciplined and hard-working, she built her position in Polish ballet by all means, with an exceptional ability to win over supporters and apologists. She took care of marketing, modelling herself on famous Soviet dancers of her time, who, to strengthen their careers, placed themselves in circles close to the highest authorities. She effectively gained the support of party and ministerial decision-makers, and, consequently, also of theatre directors, who always guaranteed her leading roles in premiere ballet performances. She courted opinion-forming publicists (J. Waldorff, T. Wysocka and others), gaining their flattering opinions on her dance technique, musicality and acting skills, which were not confirmed by independent ballet reviewers (J. Turska, J. Pudełek and others). Thanks to the behind-the-scenes efforts of her life partners, she effectively strengthened her own position in the theatre at the expense of talented competitors of her generation (B. Bittnerówna, O. Sawicka and others) and the most talented dancers of the younger generation (B. Kociołkowska, E. Jaroń and others). Throughout all the years of her dancing career, she actively supported the close cooperation of the Warsaw ballet with the Soviet teaching and choreographic staff, which additionally ensured her the support of the then authorities and the goodwill of the USSR embassy in Warsaw. All this ultimately led to her appointment as the director of the Teatr Wielki’s ballet, which she held in 1970–80, retaining the position of prima ballerina for another seven years. She was suspended from these duties during the so-called first “Solidarity” after the company objected to her controversial methods of treating artists under her care. In 1985, however, she was reinstated to the position and managed the company again until 1995. At the same time, in 1964–90, she was the only person officially delegated by the Ministry of Culture and Art as a representative of Poland to the juries of international ballet competitions in Varna, Moscow, Tokyo, Osaka, Jackson, Paris and Helsinki, and in 1979–95, she chaired the jury of subsequent editions of the National Dance and Choreography Competition in Gdańsk. After resigning from her position at the Teatr Wielki, she continued to serve as the ballet director at the Warsaw Operetta in 1995–98, after which she withdrew from professional and public life. She left a subjective image of her own career in a book-length interview Life for Dance (1998). She was distinguished with numerous awards and state decorations, including the Golden Cross of Merit (1953 and 1956), the Knight’s Cross (1964) and Officer’s Cross (1971) of the Order of Polonia Restituta, awards of the Ministry of Culture and Art II and I class (1967 and 1985), the Order of the Banner of Work II and I class (1979 and 1986), and years later also the gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2006).

Krzyszkowska’s strong personality, support of the authorities and the position she had won in Polish ballet bore positive fruit during her years as ballet director at the Teatr Wielki. She boldly and uncompromisingly strove to raise the rank and level of the Warsaw ballet, fighting to equalise its chances with the opera in the theatre. Despite the growing economic emigration of the most talented Polish dancers in those years, she managed to significantly rejuvenate and strengthen the team’s personnel and revive its artistic activity, leading to an increase in the number of ballet premieres and performances. At that time, a team of talented young soloists came to the forefront of the staff, including E. Głowacka, B. Rajska, R. Smukała, W. Wołk-Karaczewski, I. Wiśniewski, Łukasz Gruziel and others. The repertoire policy of that period was still dominated by the traditional repertoire closest to Krzyszkowska’s tastes (Swan Lake by P. Tchaikovsky, 1973 and 1985, Coppelia by L. Delibes, 1974, Giselle by A. Adam, 1976, The Sleeping Beauty by P. Tchaikovsky, 1983, Cinderella by S. Prokofiev, 1988) in Soviet choreographic productions (B. Khaliulov, A. Gridin, I. Mykhaylychenko, P. Gusev, K. Sergeyev, and O. Vinogradov). However, the management of the Teatr Wielki, succumbing to criticism of the conservative repertoire policy of its ballet and to the expectations of public opinion, slowly began to open up to Western choreographic achievements, inviting artists such as: J. Lazzini (1972), B. Cullberg (1975), F. Ashton (1977), S. Lifar (1978), Yuriko (1978), A. Alonzo (1980), A. Méndez (1980), H. van Manen (1986-1988), D. Lichine (1986), J. Butler (1987), M. Béjart (1987), L. Massine (1991, 1992) and P. Lacotte (1993). There were also many more new productions by well-known Polish choreographers, such as W. Borkowski (1971), W. Gruca (1972–1976, 1979, 1988), L. Wójcikowski (1973), T. Kujawa (1973), H. Konwiński (1978), A. Glegolski (1989-1990), K. Pastor (1994); as well as debutants such as: M. Compe (1971–1972), J. Makarowski (1971, 1973, 1975), M. Bochenek (1971, 1975), J. Graczyk (1979), Z. Rudnicka (1987, 1992), E. Wesołowski (1989, 1991–1993), W. Wołk-Karaczewski (1989–1990), A. Żymełka (1992) and M. Różycki (1994). The changing management of the Teatr Wielki supported Krzyszkowska’s managerial ambitions but indicated her Polish music as an indispensable inspiration for new choreographies. Hence, many new ballets were created at that time to music by composers such as W. Lutosławski, Z. Turski, K. Penderecki, J. Maksymiuk, T. Baird, A. Bloch, G. Bacewicz, L. Różycki, R. Twardowski, K. Komeda-Trzciński, K. Serocki, E. Rudnik, M. Karłowicz, K. Kurpiński, J. Damse, W. Kilar, T. Szeligowski, A. Jarzębski, T. Stańko, F. Chopin, S. Kisielewski, S. Moniuszko, A. Münchheimer, R. Augustyn, R. Maciejewski, M. Małecki and H.M. Górecki. Such a program policy of the ballet was therefore not the merit of Krzyszkowska but of top-down decisions of successive directors of the theatre. The fact is, however, that the increased artistic activity of the Warsaw Ballet during the years of her management contributed to the development of the company, the appearance of new Polish choreographers and the enrichment of the ballet repertoire of the Teatr Wielki.

Literature: P. Chynowski Maria Krzyszkowska. Szkic do portretu, “Taniec”, Poznań 1982; J. S. Witkiewicz Życie dla tańca. Rozmowy z Maria Krzyszkowską, Warsaw 1998; J. S. Witkiewicz Maria Krzyszkowska. Taniec był moim życiem, Warsaw 2015; J. Sibilska-Siudym Maria Krzyszkowska [https://archiwum.teatrwielki.pl/baza/-/o/mariakrzyszkowska/169259/20181, access 12.02.2023].