Igor Podsiadly

Igor was born in 1985 in Góra Śląska, Poland. He began dancing at a young age in a ‘90s disco group. After the umpteenth solo assigned to him, his talent became undeniable, so he set out to the Netherlands to study at Codarts in Rotterdam after graduating from high school. During his second year, he mustered the courage to write to Club Guy & Roni and make his interest in the company known. He received no response. Nevertheless, luck brought him in touch with the Club only a few months later. He has been a member since 2005 and primarily dances solos; a fitting role for someone who “isn’t so good at communicating with others.” What he loves about Club Guy & Roni is that it is a collection of “diehard misfits”. He is really not into cliquey people, but this is the only club he would like to be part of. In 2014, Igor won a Zwaan (the Oscar of Dutch dance) for most impressive dance achievement for his role in Naked Lunch. His secret? He dances every time as if it was his last.

“With Igor, Club Guy & Roni have a dancer with a defining image. He is a performer with a wide array of talents that surprises the audience again and again. Whether he is dancing with his fable-like and idiosyncratic technique, just stands and looks out, or plays around, he is always hypnotising with his simultaneously dangerous and mollifying appearance.” – de Zwaan judges in 2014

Igor speaks of classical ballet as the desire to turn every move into effortlessness and beauty, while it is incredible hard work. Club Guy & Roni’s Swan Lake breaks free from this idea, bringing the symbols and imagery of ballet into a totally different context, closer to reality. Every narrative of escapism is abandoned in favour of embracing the challenges that this modern times place before us.

“We are taking symbolic elements of ballet and we are placing them in another context”

Igor’s invite resonates in the minds of the audience during Swan Lake and lingers there even after stepping out of the theater.