Romana Agnel

Romana Agnel is a dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, art historian, and founder of ‘Cracovia Danza’, the only professional Court Ballet in Poland (formerly known as ‘Ardente Sole’), a Municipal Institution of Culture in Krakow, where she is Executive and Artistic Director.

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She is an alumna of the Community Ballet School (studio of Prof. Marta Mirocka) in Krakow. She completed a degree in Art History at the Sorbonne in Paris. In France she became acquainted with the dance of several dozen nations of the world and acquired her specializations in the areas of character dance and historic dance (‘Le Ballet Légendaire d’Ile de France’, ‘Le Bal Paré’, the 7^th conservatory in Paris, ‘Théatre Baroque de France’).

She is also a dancer of the Bharata Natyam classical Indian dance which she learnt from Smt. M. K. Saroja in Madras.

Romana Agnel has had many occasions to work with illustrious personalities of the music and ballet worlds. She created choreographies for numerous Baroque, classical, and Old Polish operas staged in Poland and abroad. She has participated in the production of performances under the direction of Jean-Claude Malgoire. She has also presented historical dance with the accompaniment of superb soloists: E. Stafańska, U. Bartkiewicz, harpsichordist K. Weiss, and Baroque cello virtuoso J. Ter Linden.

She choreographs most of the performances of the Cracovia Danza Court Ballet.

In Poland, as a dancer and choreographer, she collaborates with many theatres; the Warsaw Chamber Opera; the Royal Castles in Krakow, Warsaw and Niepołomice; and numerous other institutions in Poland and abroad.

Moreover, she teaches historical dance classes at the Academy of Music in Krakow and in Łódź, as well as many courses in her areas of specialization.

Romana Agnel is the founder and Artistic Director of a Court Dance Festival held every August in Krakow.
For many years now, the artist has promoted the classical Indian dance Bharata Natyam, simultaneously acting as an ambassador of Polish and European dance in India. In Paris she participated in Indian dance performances with the group 'Tilak'. Together with M. Pomianowska and her Ensemble, and with S. Bhattacharya she produced a performance called 'Poland – India: Conversations'. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the dancer launched three artistic tours by invitation of the Dancers and Cultural Institutions of India where she performed European and Polish court dances as well as taught dance workshops at, amongst others, the Indo-European Dance Festival organized by the Alaknanda Institute for the Performing Arts.

She is also author of a few publications on the subject of historical dance, amongst others:

1. ‘The Importance and Meaning of Gesture in the Opera and Ballet of the 17^th and 18^th centuries’ [in:] Improvisation in the music of the Baroque, ed. M. Zieliński, the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Bydgoszcz 2004.;
2. ‘The Basic Forms of Court Dance in the Baroque’ [in:] Around Baroque Dance, ed. P. Grajter, the G. and K. Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, Łódź 2007.;
3. ‘The Origins and the Symbolism of the Polonaise’ [in:] Vom Schäferidyll zur Revolution. Europäische Tanzkultur im 18. Jahrhundert. 2. Rothenfelster Tanzsymposion ed. U. Schlottermüller, H.Weiner, M. Richter, Freiburg 2008.

Romana Agnel received 2^nd Prize at the Parisian ‘La Scéne Française’ competition in the area of character dance technique and was honored with the Zofia Rayzacher Prize at the 9^th Early Music Festival at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. In 2009 she was distinguished by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage with the ‘Merit of Polish Culture’ award and the Medal of the National Education Commission by the Chief Education Officer in the Małopolskie Region. In 2010 she received the ‘Honoris Gratia’ award for meritorious service to the City of Krakow and its inhabitants from the Mayor of the City of Krakow.