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Robert Bondara
Robert Bondara
The Press
'(Take Me With You, Dance Theatre of Harlem) - 'As the choreography flickers between sharp and dreamy, the dancers — sleek yet still somehow vulnerable — are swept along by the music. Bondara, a Polish choreographer, makes room for give and take. Even as the dancers roll on the floor or grab each other’s limbs, you get the sense that this is a partnership.
When Smith bends over Re’s chest and taps her fingers on his torso to the beat of the music, he doesn’t flinch but arches backward. “Take Me With You” is both unstuffed and unsentimental: There may be darkness swirling around the world, but they have each other, strangely and endearingly like a modern-day Nick and Nora.' Gia Kourlas, New York Times, April, 2024
'Bondara’s, Take Me With You, finds a soulmate in Radiohead’s restless beat, so skilfully employed that the medley of numbers binds the work into a perfect wrap. The body language is searingly honest connecting social relationships and inner feelings. There is innovation every step of the way from the line of dancers, dressed in trim black shorts and crisp white shirts, sitting across the breadth of the stage,
cross-legged and arms in a chrysalis twist, to the final clap and blackout. His uninhibited use of pointes allows freedom to venture where toes have seldom dared. Rhythmic body percussion and clapping reverberates like a clandestine mating call, marking boundaries and designating partners.
The original duet remains central, danced with panache by Saeka Shirai and Mateusz Sierant. It is daring and dangerous, the timing precipitous but never losing the poetic undercurrent visible in brief shared glances. Duets, solos, the dynamic male skirmish where competitive virtuosity comes to the fore and the energetic closing ensemble, all demand this mix of audacity, skill and artistry structured with Bondara’s keen eye in a work of superb quality. ' Maggie Foyer - Danza, March 2021
'Bondara proves his skills in creating rich and emotional dance language which is both contemporary and very physical.'
Dance Europe, Maggie Foyer
'Bondara exploited the interesting opportunities the situation offered , showing a distinctive talent for shape and movement.'
Dance Europe, Maggie Foyer
'Persona, a quirky and disturbing trio, was created by dancer Robert Bondara, a name to watch out.'
Dance Europe, Maggie Foyer
'It is one of the most brilliant ballet careers of the last decade in Poland' Rzeczpospolita, Jacek Marczyński
'The Polish National Ballet's Persona"was my favorite of the entire evening... Choreographer Robert Bondara, a "rising star" in the Polish National Ballet, has turned the push and pull of role reversals in relationships, and in ourselves, into a stunning piece of contemporary dance. Houston Press, Abby Koenig
The Polish National Ballet, making their Salad debut, offered four works, of which Robert Bondara's trio excerpt of his minimalist Persona, proved the strongest.' Dancemagazine, Nancy Wozny -
Dance Salad Festival, Houston, Texas
Robert Bondara
Robert's video reel is here.
Robert Bondara is a Polish dancer, choreographer and teacher. In October, 2018, he was appointed Artistic Director of Poznan Opera Ballet in Poland.
Robert graduated from the Feliks Parnell State Ballet School in Łódź and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and the Warsaw School of Economics. He began his career at the Music Theatre in Łódź and later moved to the Grand Theatre in Poznań. In 2005 he joined the Polish National Ballet and in 2008 he also began working with Aleksandra Dziurosz’s Warsaw Dance Theatre.
Robert received the 2nd prize (no 1st prize was awarded) and the special prize of the Witold Lutoslawski Society at the Bronislava Nijinska National Choreography Competition in Warsaw (2008) and Jan Kiepura Award in the category Choreographer of the Year 2011 in Poland. He qualified to the 27th and 29th International Competition for Choreographers in Hannover (2013, 2015).
In 2018, Robert received Le Prix de Biarritz award in Emergent Choreographers Contest in Bordeaux (2018) and was awarded The Bronze Medal for ‘Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis’ in 2016.
Robert began making work for the Polish National Ballet’s Choreographic Workshops many of which were later included in the Company's chamber repertoire.
As a guest choreographer, Robert has staged his works with companies in Poland and abroad, with among the others for Czech National Ballet, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Vilnius; Company E from Washington (USA); Kielce Dance Theater (Poland); Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz (Poland); Opera House in Wroclaw (Poland); Opera House in Poznan (Poland), Silesian Opera House in Bytom (Poland), and on numerous occasions for Polish National Ballet.
His choreography has been presented were presented at the Polish Dance Competition in Gdańsk; at the Didura Festival in Sanok; the 43rd International Dance Festival in Kuopio, Finland; in the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre; Bergen and Stavanger in Norway; Dance Salad Festival in Houston, Texas; The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington; Dancing Poznan - XIII International Dance Theatres Festival; Roberto Bolle and Friends Gala in Italy (Bologna, Florence, Rome, Spoleto, Verona, Santa Margherita di Pula); Xinjiang International Dance Festival in China; STS Festival in Warsaw and in the programmes of the II – VI Days of Dance Festival in the Polish National Opera.
In May, 2019, Robert created a new work for Szczecin Ballet in Poland which in 2020 won Poland's Jan Kiepura Prize for set designers Martyna Kander and Julia Skrzynecka. In September, Chemnitz Ballet premiered Robert's Winterreise. He also made his USA debut in June 2019 with the staging of 8m68 for Moving Arts Festival in Kansas City and Cincinnati.
In 2020-21, Robert created a new full-length production of Don Juan for Poznan Ballet which recently won the Jan Kiepura Music Theatre Award for best performance and best choreography in Poland in 2021.
That same season, he choreographed Faust for Klaipeda State Music Theatre in Lithuania and staged the pas de deux Take Me With You to music by Radiohead for Stanislavsky Ballet in Moscow.
In autumn 2021, Robert created a new Rite of Spring for Chemnitz Ballet in Germany.
Recent projects include the world premiere of his full-length Alice in Wonderland for Opera Ballet Nova in Bydgoszcz as well as creating on students of the Hungarian National Ballet Academy.
Over the past few years, Robert has developed a strong partnership with West Australian Ballet. He staged his extended version of Take Me With You to the music of Radiohead in February, 2022 and returned in 2023 to stage Verses and Persona.
In 2023 Robert has also created and staged ballets for Klaipeda Theatre in Lithuania and Royal Ballet School Antwerp and created new productions of The Snow Queen and Bolero for Poznan Ballet.
and staged Take Me With You for Czech National Ballet.
In 2024, Robert has staged Take Me With You for Dance Theatre of Harlem and returns to West Australian Ballet to create a new work in May, 2024.
@robertbondara