| Biography | Witold Idzi Zapala was a Polish dancer, choreographer and pedagogue. For over 50 years (1957 2011), Witold Zapala collaborated with Mazowsze, the Polish Song and Dance Ensemble (Polish: Zespól Ludowy Piesni i Tanca Mazowsze), for whom he created repertory of dances and folk ceremonies from 43 ethnographic regions of Poland.
Zapala was also an originator, director and choreographer of children dance group Varsovia. Zapala was born in Dziurów, near Starachowice, and began his career at age 16 with the folk troupe Skolimow. He also trained Polish folk dancers in the United States, and has choreographed the dance sequences for the Polish Opera, Straszny Dwór (Stanislaw Moniuszko) in Warsaw. |