Club Events in August - Ballet and Film

It is such a hot and busy summer! The Modjeska Club will gather for two events this month:

• on August 6 for the premiere of Stefan Wenta's ballet based on Chopin's music and
  

• on August 13 for the premiere of a documentary about Marian Kolodziej, an Auschwitz survivor, "Labyrinth" by Father Ron Schmidt, SJ.

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On Friday, August 6, 2010, at 8:30 p.m., at Ford Amphitheater, Hollywood (the private event starts at 7:00 p.m.), in honor of Chopin's 200th birthday celebration, the LUMINARIO BALLET OF LOS ANGELES presents the premiere of a ballet by STEFAN WENTA

FANTASY ON POLISH AIRS

The performance takes place
at the FORD AMPHITHEATER
on 2580 Cahuenga Bld. East
Hollywood 90068

There will by a specially reduced price for members of the Modjeska Art and Culture Club. The code for obtaining the 20$ ticket (instead of $30) will be available to our members and friends in our official email/mail invitation. Ford Amphitheater Box Office phone number is: 323-GO-1-FORD (323-461-3673).

STEFAN WENTA was a principal dancer and choreographer of the Warsaw Opera Ballet where he danced roles in Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Coppelia, etc. After receiving a scholarship (together with Roman Polanski, Zbigniniew Cybulski, and Andrzej Komeda) to study in Paris, he became the partner of the Paris Opera's prima-ballerinas Yvette Chauvire and Lycette Darsonval. He also was the premier dancer of the Theatre d'Art du Ballet, with which he gave guest performances in India, Indonesia, China, Africa and all over Europe.

In 1960 he came to America where he became the Artistic Director of the Western Ballet of Los Angeles, and, later on, the Wenta Ballet of Los Angeles. He choreographed many ballets, and also did the choreography for numerous films like Logan's Run, Our Man Flint, Fantastic Voyage and Warren Beatty's Reds. He presently teaches classes at the MIMODA studio in Hollywood while finishing his novel to be published in late spring of 2011.

Look for posters of Modjeska for the event's location!

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On Friday, August 13th, 2010, at 7:30 p.m., Modjeska Club members and friends will be able to attend the premiere of

THE LABYRINTH

This short documentary, 37 minutes in length, has been selected for the International Documentary Association's 14th Annual DocuWeeks 2010 Theatrical Showcase. Modjeska Club members and guests are invited to attend the official premiere on Friday, August 13, at 7:30 p.m.,followed by a QA with the filmmakers and by a reception at 10:00 p.m.

THE LABYRINTH
Arclight-Hollywood Cinema
6360 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028-7323
(323) 464-4226

Tickets can be purchased online and more information is on the ArcLight website. Other screenings will be at the Arclight-Hollywood from Aug. 13-19.

According to the film director, Jesuit priest, Father Ron Schmidt, The Labyrinth is the chronicle of one Polish artist's journey from repentance to resurrection. He wrote: "Art and hell collide as Auschwitz survivor Marian Kolodziej finally confronts the horrors of his past after 50 years of silence. Kolodziej was on one of the first transports to enter Auschwitz. He survived five years imprisonment and never spoke of his experience until after a serious stroke in 1993. He began rehabilitation by doing pen and ink drawings depicting his horrific experience."

"Marian’s drawings and art installations, which he called The Labyrinth, fill the large basement of a church near Auschwitz. Through the blending of his testimony and graphic drawings, we explore the memories and nightmares that were buried for years. Why would a confrontation with death trigger the need to record his long-suppressed memories? And why in this graphic, metaphorical way? Marian was in the same roll call group with St. Maximilian Kolbe and Marian made many drawings of Fr. Kolbe."

"After the war, Mr. Kolodziej became a noted set and costume designer for the theater and film, in his native Poland. When Pope John Paul II returned to Poland, Mr. Kolodziej designed the outdoor altars for the Pope's Masses."

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Modjeska Club Calendar of Events for Fall 2010

September 11, 6:30 p.m.: The Controversial Ryszard Kapuscinski, screening of a documentary on Polish journalist and writer, with his biographer's comments. Ruskin Art Club, Los Angeles.

October 10, 6:00 p.m.: An Evening of Song - with Marta Wryk, Soprano, and Adam Kosmieja, Piano (both from New York), at the South Pasadena Library Community Room, South Pasadena. Program includes songs and piano music by Dvorak and Chopin.

October 26, TBA: Polish Jazz at the Jazz Bakery with Jan Jarczyk from Montreal, Darek Oleszkiewicz, and other musicians (co-sponsored by Modjeska Club).

November 20, TBA: Kabaret Starszych Panow performed by our friends, Polish Club from Riverside.

December 11, 6:00 p.m.: Christmas Party (Modjeska Club Members Only Event).

January 22, 2011, 6:00 p.m.: Travel to Tibet by Maria and Edward Pilatowicz, screening of film and discussion at South Pasadena Public Library Community Auditorium.

February 2011, TBA: War Memoirs with writers John Z. Guzlowski and Frank Zajaczkowski, and Terry Tegnazian, publisher of Aquila Polonica.

March 2011, TBA: Mickiewicz in Translation with Prof. Roman Koropeckyj, UCLA, Mickiewicz scholar, and Prof. Leonard Kress, Owens College, Mickiewicz's translator; including film fragments.

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Events of Our Friends

August 9, 5:30 p.m.: Japan: Land of Geishas, Rising Sun, and Sumo Wrestlers at Cedars Sinai Alumni Association, Program by Wanda Presburger, $15, Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Henry Morse Auditorium, Plaza Level, Los Angeles.

August 13-14: Modjeska! The Artists Dream - Play about Helena Modjeska, performed by Ewa Boryczko, Camino Real Playhouse, San Juan Capistrano, CA www.helenamodjeska.com.

September 12, 3:00 p.m.: Chopin with Cherries - Poetry Reading from an anthology edited by Maja Trochimczyk, with 14 American poets and Prof. Rick Wilson playing Chopin on the flute, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, Venice, CA.

October 15-21, TBA: Polish Film Festival in Los Angeles - exact program will be posted on the Festival's website.