In the final of the competition Viktoria Nowak presented a difficult, beautiful, original choreography Piece in Old Style, refined in every detail and composed for her by Jacek Przybyłowicz to Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s score. Nowak clashed in the final with Slovenian Staša Tušar; however, after a stormy debate the jury awarded the first prize to the Polish representative, and justly so. Here’s Nowak’s victorious performance.
A few months ago this School of Ballet in Poznań student danced her way to victory in Młody Tancerz Roku [Young Dancer of the Year], a competition whose winner qualifies for the Eurovision Dance Contest. She also won the audience award. The choreography was composed by Mirosław Różalski:
"I knew that Viktoria is a creative dancer. I know exactly what she is capable of and I saw that she did almost her best in the final. You wish you had a student like this every year: talented, creative, intelligent, hard-working. Viktoria is a serene and good-humoured person, but she is also incredibly energetic while dancing. On top of that, she also has this thing that wins the audience for her. They love her the second she walks on the stage" – said Różalski to Stefan Drajewski of Głos Wielkopolski.
Viktoria Nowak has been a dancer for the Teatr Wielki in Poznań for several years now. She has also performed in the Berliner Philharmoniker. Winning Eurovision grants her a chance for an international career and 7,000 euro.
Eurovision Young Dancers is one of the most important international dance events dedicated to young artists. Organized by the European Union of Broadcasters every two years, its first edition was held 30 years ago. The contest gathers certain TV station representatives aged 16 to 21. Competitors from Poland first appeared in the Eurovision Young Dancers in 1993. In 2001, Marcin and Dawid Kupiński won the London edition of the show. Gdynia, Warsaw, and Gdańsk hosted the event in 1997, 2005 and 2013, respectively. The Polish representative is the winner of the Young Dancer of the Year contest that is organized by TVP Kultura, The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Institute of Music and Dance.
sources: TVP, Głos Wielkopolski, press release, edit. AL
Translated by Paweł Trzaskowski, 23 June 2015