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Yanush YuzefovichPolish director, choreographer and producer
Country:
 Poland |
Content:
Biography of Janusz Józefowicz
Childhood and YouthJanusz Józefowicz, a Polish director, choreographer, and producer, was born on July 3, 1959, in Świecie, one of the oldest cities in Poland. After completing his secondary education, he enrolled in the Theater Academy in Warsaw and studied choreography at a vocal and dance school in Prague. His diploma production, "Lawlessness," in the mid-1980s, became a significant theatrical event and was awarded an international journalism prize. In his youth, Janusz toured Europe with this production and received numerous awards.
Career
Janusz first realized his multifaceted talent as an actor, playing a minor role in the Polish film "Love Will Forgive You" in 1981. It wasn't until 1987 that he reached his debut leading role, portraying the central character in the drama "New York, Four A.M." about a young man named Józef who tries to build a relationship with a girl after his release from prison. He also played another main character in the action film "Players" in 1995, which revolved around a presidential race.
Since 1987, Józefowicz has worked as a choreographer at the "Ramp" theater in Warsaw and became the artistic director of Studio Buffo in Warsaw in 1992, where he still works. Over the past decades, Janusz has directed more than 30 productions at Buffo, which have been successful in Poland. In many of them, he also performed as a dancer and singer. In addition to his work at Studio Buffo, Józefowicz has choreographed shows in Poland and abroad, including productions such as "The Dybbuk" in Tel Aviv, "Dead Souls" in Berlin, and worked on the opera "Ca Ira." In 1990, the Polish director received a scholarship from the U.S. government for his studies while teaching in Germany. Throughout his career, Janusz has also trained dancers in choreography from Russia, Belarus, and other countries, and worked on musicals, including television productions.
In 1991, the premiere of the musical "Metro" took place, an idea conceived by Józefowicz. The production initially gained success in Poland and later became popular on Broadway, in France, and received two "Golden Masks" in Moscow in the late 1990s. Following the success of "Metro," which became a phenomenon of that time, Janusz directed musicals such as "Peter Pan," "The Witches of Eastwick," and "Romeo and Juliet" in Moscow. He then worked as a director for the Russian-Belarusian project "The Prophet," with the premiere taking place in Minsk in 2008, followed by Moscow and St. Petersburg a year later. In 2009, he worked on a music video for Belarusian singer Petr Elfimov, who represented Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow but did not advance to the finals, causing controversy due to the use of explicit language.
His next major project was the musical "Pola Negri," which incorporated 3D technology, allowing live horses, cars, and planes to appear on stage. The production featured stars of the Russian show business, including Gosha Kutsenko, Teona Dolnikova, and Maxim Leonidov.
Personal Life
During his school years, Janusz met his future wife, Danuta, and they got married shortly after receiving their certificates. The couple later became parents to their daughter Kamilla, but Józefowicz devoted more time to work and its temptations than to his family. In 1993, Janusz and Danuta attempted to save their marriage, and their son Jakub was born, but their relationship eventually collapsed. Years later, the dancer admitted that he was immature and directed his energy towards the wrong things.
Since 2008, the choreographer has been married to Polish actress, singer, dancer, and TV presenter Natalia Urbanska, who is 18 years younger than Janusz. Four months after their wedding, they welcomed their daughter.
The couple prefers not to publicize their relationship. On their social media accounts, Natalia focuses on her creative work and only occasionally shares photos with her husband and daughter.
Current Endeavors
In the fall of 2021, the premiere of the show "Big Musical" took place on the "Culture" TV channel, with filming taking place during the summer. Janusz became one of the three regular members of the jury for the competition, along with Larisa Dolina and Teona Konti, with a fourth judge changing in each episode.
The first episode of the project featured auditions, from which 10 participants were selected. The ten contestants then had a chance to introduce themselves to the viewers. After each competition performance, one contestant was eliminated, and the final is planned to be a gala concert.
After the presentation of "Big Musical," Józefowicz gave an interview in which he talked about his biography, artistic development, and the genre of musicals. The director also reminisced about the first auditions for "Metro" when people in Russia were not familiar with the art form, and they performed folk songs. However, today, the level of Russian musical theater artists has significantly improved.
The director also revealed that during the pandemic, he filmed movies based on his productions and expressed his intention to work more on musical films in the future.
