<i>Pieśń o ziemi</i> : Bronisława Niżyńska and the ‘Stylization’ of Polish National Culture

Abstract This article examines Bronisława Niżyńska’s (Bronislava Nijinska) ballet, Pieśń o ziemi (1937), in the Polski Balet Reprezentacyjny ’s (Polish Representative Ballet) inaugural 1937–1938 season. The Polski Balet Reprezentacyjny was an ensemble instituted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to represent the Second Polish Republic as cultural diplomats. Domestic reviews betray conflicting opinions regarding Niżyńska’s role as an artistic representative of the Second Polish Republic. Therefore, this article argues that tepid reception of her choreographic work reveals an underlying hesitancy towards accepting her as a national artist. At the center of these questions remains the puzzling consideration of Niżyńska, who was situated between Europe’s modernist ballet tradition, heavily shaped by Russian émigrés, and Polish national culture. Examining Niżyńska’s choreographic praxis and complex biography suggests the reconsideration of Niżyńska as a purely Russophone artist, bringing to the fore the hitherto underexplored Polish dimension of her identity.