Jerzy
Golek
Dance
Education
- M.A. (Humanities), University of Warsaw
Curriculum Vitae
Mr. Golek is experienced in all aspects of classical and modern ballet teaching, performance and choreography. Before turning his career to teaching, he had a successful performance career with an internationally known company.
M. Golek's career began at the age of 12 when he won a national audition for full scholarship to the Gdansk State Ballet Academy. Gdansk provided a full residential scholarship on the European model, assuring a complete liberal arts academic education through Bachelor's degree, alongside professional training in ballet including performance, history and choreography.
Upon completion of his degree at Gdansk he performed with the Ballet Company of Lodz, one of Poland's leading companies, and then joined Mazowsze National Dance Company of Poland, Poland's premiere international cultural ensemble. Mr. Golek performed with the company in such renowned venues as La Scala, Milan; Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, and ranging as far as China and Japan. Biennial tours of the United States often brought him to Carnegie Hall in New York and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. He was awarded Gold Medal of Artistic Achievement by the President of Poland, and since coming to the United States has won awards for his choreography.
During his tenure with Mazowsze, he also completed a Master of Arts at Warsaw University in Humanities Pedagogy. In the United States, Mr. Golek has developed his own teaching style, based on his classical training in the Russian method, modified to the needs of his American students. He regularly teaches ballet at West Chester University, and has taught or done guest workshops at many area schools. He is also the president and artistic director of Cultural Interchanges, which, among other activities, provides Mr. Golek's students with the opportunity to attend an international summer dance festival in Poland.