Alicja Boniuszko (1937âÂÂ2019) was a Polish ballet dancer and choreographer who was involved with the Baltic State Opera in Gdaà Âsk, Poland for many years.
Alicja Boniuszko was born on 16 October 1937 in Myadzyel in what is now Belarus but at the time was in the Second Polish Republic. After 1945, her family moved to the borough of Wrzeszcz in Gdaà Âsk and she began going to ballet lessons soon after. In 1956 she graduated from the State Ballet School in Gdaà Âsk, where she had been taught by .
In 1956, Boniuszko became a soloist at Baltic Opera, later becoming the prima ballerina. In addition to performing in Poland she appeared on stages in London, New York and Rio de Janeiro, among others. Her most prominent roles included leading roles in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Juliusz à Âucik's Niobe, ProkofievâÂÂs Romeo and Juliet, Karol Szymanowski's Harnasie, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Béla Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin. In addition to live performances, Boniuszko also appeared in four films as a ballerina, as well as in documentary films.
In 1977, Boniuszko gave up dancing and took up teaching and choreography. She led, among others, classes at the Gdaà Âsk ballet school. She also served as a juror in dance competitions.
Boniuszko won prizes in several dancing competitions including second prize in the First National Classical Dance competition in Poland in 1959, first prize in Vercelli, Italy in 1960 and third prize in Rio de Janeiro in 1961. In 1985 she was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 2000, the Gdaà Âsk City Council awarded Boniuszko the in recognition of all of her cultural activities and for making the name of Gdaà Âsk famous in the country and in the world. In 2009, she was awarded the national Medal for Merit to Culture â Gloria Artis, receiving the gold medal.
Boniuszko died in Gdaà Âsk on 23 December 2019. She is buried at the à Âostowicki cemetery in Gdaà Âsk. In 2021 it was proposed that a roundabout in Gdaà Âsk should bear her name.