Julia Mierzyńska (1801 – 1831), was a well-known Polish prima ballerina, choreographer, actor and educator. She appeared with the ballet at the

National Theatre, Warsaw The National Theatre () in Warsaw, Poland, was founded in 1765, during the Polish Enlightenment, by that country's List of Polish monarchs, monarch, Stanisław August Poniatowski. The theatre shares the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, Grand Theatre compl ...

between 1815 and 1826.Słownik Biograficzny Teatru Polskiego 1765–1965, PWN Warszawa 1973

Biography

Mierzyńska was born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, the daughter of actor Andrzej Mierzyński and Teresa (née Chilińska). During the years 1817–1826 she was a prima ballerina of the

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Ballet, and a choreographer and teacher. She also studied acting at the Warsaw Drama School under the supervision of Bonawentura Kudlicz and dance under Gaetano Petinetti. Her first stage performance took place on 2 July 1816 in the role of Love in the ballet ''Diana and Endymion'' at the Warsaw National Theatre. During the 1817 season, she studied ballet from Fortunato Bernardelli and then she performed in his productions. Her next teacher was Louis Thierry. As an actress, she performed in "boyish and sous-de-lis roles." In 1825, Mierzyńska composed Turkish dances, national dances and a Tyrolean play and about 10 short performances. Her solo mazur arrangement, which was included in "Wesele w Ojcowie," was notable.

"She co-choreographed the ballet ''Wesele krakowskie w Ojcowie'', arranging, among other things, the famous solo mazurka, for which she later became famous (choreography together with M. Pion and L. Thierry, music by K. Kurpiński, J. Damse, National Theatre, 1823). She revived the ballet ''Frantostwa Arlekina'' (she performed the role of Columbine, choreography by F. Bernardelli, music by NN, National Theatre, 1825) and developed the ballet ''Święto harwa, czyli Sęstoć Ceres (Harvest Festival, or Ceres' Celebration)'' and Tńce turkie (''Turkish Dances''), in which she performed as a soloist (music by NN, National Theatre, 1825)."

During the 1825–1826 season, she worked not only the prima ballerina, she was also director of the ballet troupe as well as head of the ballet school. Her last ballet performance was ''National Dances'' (9 May 1826) after which she retired from the theatre.

Personal life

In 1826, she married a Russian army captain, Grzegorz Nienatkiewicz. Mierzyńska died in Warsaw on 14 January 1831.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mierzynska, Julia 1801 births 19th-century Polish ballet dancers 1831 deaths 19th-century ballet dancers from the Russian Empire Polish ballerinas Polish choreographers Polish actresses