Piotr Stanczyk

Principal Dancer

Piotr Stanczyk View Gallery

Quick Facts

Born: Poznan, Poland
Trained: State Ballet School of Poznan in Poland and Canada’s National Ballet School
Joined: 1998
Principal Dancer since: 2008

 

Five Things to Know

  1. 1Born in Poland, Piotr trained as a competitive swimmer but shifted his focus in his early teens to ballet. Today, Piotr is pursuing his growing interest in ballet pedagogy.
     
  2. 2Piotr’s classical repertoire with The National Ballet of Canada includes Mercutio and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, the title role in Onegin, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. In 2017, he created the role of Geppetto in Will Tuckett’s Pinocchio.
     
  3. 3Excelling in dramatic roles, in 2012, Piotr won the Rolex Dancers First Award for his portrayal of the title role in Kevin O’Day’s Hamlet and in 2003, he won the William Marrié Award for his portrayal of Jaguar in James Kudelka’s The Firebird.
     
  4. 4Piotr gives one of his most touching performances in James Kudelka’s The Man in Black, set to the music of Johnny Cash. Piotr appears regularly in works by today’s new and established choreographers, such as Alexei Ratmansky, Crystal Pite, Christopher Wheeldon, John Neumeier and Alysa Pires.
     
  5. 5As a guest artist, Piotr has performed internationally with the Vienna State Ballet, International Ballet Festival of Miami, Charleston Ballet, Brott Music Festival and the Canadian All Star Ballet Gala.

 

Favourite Ballets

  1. 1Onegin
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  3. 2The Winter’s Tale 
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  5. 3The Man in Black
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  7. 4The Nutcracker 
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  9. Don Quixote 5

 

 

Videos

 

Reviews

Romeo and Juliet
“Mercutio, the wonderful Piotr Stanczyk... offers a fusion of comedy and filigreed footwork.”
– Los Angeles Times

Giselle
“Piotr Stanczyk seethed as the discarded Hilarion. He was a highlight.”
– The Daily Gazette

“Stanczyk is one of the great treasures of The National Ballet of Canada. His compact, muscular frame suggests the strength and machismo of a soccer play. Yet, when he dances a classical piece of choreography, there is an elegance and sweep to the way he moves.”
– The Hamilton Spectator

Awards

Rolex Dancers First Award for his performance in the title role of Hamlet (2012)

William Marrié Award for Dramatic Excellence for his performances as Jaguar in The Firebird (2003