Filip Wagrodzki

Filip Wagrodzki

As a brand new student of Codarts Rotterdam, Filip Wagrodzki, 23 at the time, was going to see a Scapino performance. Only, just before curtain-up, he was not at Theater Rotterdam, but at the company's offices and studios in the Eendrachtsstraat.

"I had already seen the theatre, but in Poland only the national opera or ballet company performs in such a large theatre. You don't expect to see contemporary dance there." It shows, he says, how new and overwhelming everything in the Netherlands was for him. "I was just amazed by my fellow students. Never before had I seen so many wonderful and passionate dancers together. And then there was the contemporary dance field. I knew the big names from the internet - Jiří Kylián, Alvin Ailey, Wayne McGregor - but it was only in the Netherlands that I discovered that modern dance can be anything, from the most experimental movement to even dance without movement."

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Video by Iris Hendriks // Special thanks to OASE Rotterdam

Ballroom

After years of mainly playing football, Filip started dancing ballroom and Latin at the age of eight. For seven years he fanatically danced quickstep, tango, waltz and rumba, until the competitive element and the pressure to perform started to wear on him. He gave up dancing, but two years later discovered a 'great place' in Warsaw - Beata Urbańska's Flex Dance Theater - where, purely as a hobby, he took his first modern dance classes.

Not long after, he chooses to study at the Technical University, but in his last year of studies, in between writing his thesis, he auditions at Codarts and ArtEZ in Arnhem and is accepted at both. "I simply did not want to regret for the rest of my life that I did not take the gamble."

Filip Wagrodzki

I feel like a happy child in the playground.

 

Amazing experience

Initially he saw his late start as a big disadvantage, but now he thinks differently. "I still feel like a happy child in the playground at Scapino. If I had had ballet lessons from an early age, it might have been different, but now it still feels like I'm at the beginning of a wonderful journey."

Among his best experiences, he counts his first performance with Scapino, when he was unexpectedly allowed to fill in for Ed Wubbes TING! in the Rotterdam Ferrodome. "I had never performed in front of so many people before, it was amazing to have all those eyes on you." Marcos Moraus Pablo and Cathedral also have a special place in his heart. "Marcos is demanding, so working with him was tough, but the result was enchanting. His quality of movement is so different, so refreshing. In addition, he gives you a lot of confidence, and that is important for me. It helps me to be less shy, to give myself from head to toe."

Curriculum Vitae

Born
1991, Warsaw, Poland

Education
Codarts Rotterdam

With Scapino since
2016

Performed in (i.a.)
Carried Alive, Casablanca, The Square 2, TING!, Cathedral, TOF!, TWOOLS, The Great Bean

Filip Wagrodzki

Real Madrid

As close as his bond with Rotterdam has become, Feijenoord has yet to take the place of Real Madrid. "My first football poster was of Raúl González Blanco, and I've been loyal to the Spanish club ever since." Since the coronal shockdown, however, he has added a new hobby: darts. Laughing: "I can lose myself for hours in making the same move."

His ambitions? To remain as happy and enthusiastic as he is now for a long time, at Scapino, in Rotterdam and with his girlfriend Kamila. "Sitting on the sofa together, with her head on my lap, little things like that are pure happiness for me."

 

Photography: Khalid Amakran | Interview: Astrid van Leeuwen

Filip Wagrodzki

I try not to get too carried away by my thoughts. Not to look for problems that aren't there.

This season featuring in

  • Vier vervreemdende personen in zwarte kleding tegen een donkerblauwe achtergrond

    Cathedral

    A wondrous journey into tomorrow's world and a search for what makes us human. A revival of the successful production by choreographer Marcos Morau.

Danced in a.o.

  • Vrouw in een zwart korset met blote armen en een grote gouden tooi op het hoofd in de vorm van de manen van een paard. Zij heeft haar armen sierlijk geheven alsof zij loopt. De achtergrond is goud met een geverfde cirkel.

    Oscar

    A tribute to Oscar Carré with dance, theatre, circus and live music by Blaudzun. With Oscar, artistic director Ed Wubbe bids farewell to Scapino after 30 years.
  • Beeld met vijf dansers die elkaar bij de armen vasthouden met een in het midden die probeert te ontsnappen. Tegen een oranje achtergrond met een geverfd kruis.

    Origin 2024

    For Origin, Ed Wubbe brings two extraordinary, international choreographers to The Netherlands: Xingxing Gong and Lior Tavori.
  • Man met vegen opgezocht zit op een bed in het bos en kijkt langs de camera. Op de achtergrond lopen een vrouw en een kind hand in hand.

    Song of the dark forest

    A moving, compelling and comforting performance, performed by the complete group of dancers of Scapino, an opera singer and live music by the DoelenEnsemble.
  • Twee dansers in het zwart met armen geopend en geknield op de vloer. Op de achtergrond een neongeelgroen kruis.

    Made in Rotterdam

    New work, performed and created by Scapino dancers. Made in Rotterdam is Scapino's dance laboratory where dancers can develop their talent as a choreographer.
  • Casablanca

    Casablanca

    Casablanca is a visual performance about passion, freedom and desire for a better world.
  • Vrouw in een zwart korset met blote armen en een grote gouden tooi op het hoofd in de vorm van de manen van een paard. Zij heeft haar armen sierlijk geheven alsof zij loopt. De achtergrond is goud met een geverfde cirkel.

    Oscar

    Carré en Scapino Ballet presenteren: Oscar, een hommage aan Oscar Carré met dans, theater, circus én live muziek van Blaudzun. Exclusief te zien in Carré.
  • Danser op een rode achtergrond met geverfde letter X. Hij draagt een zwarte glimmende top en strekt zijn armen uit richting de camera.

    The Square2

    Four young makers meet eachother in The Square2, a new full-length production of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
  • Casablanca

    Duplicate of Casablanca

    Casablanca is a visual performance about passion, freedom and desire for a better world.
  • Made in Rotterdam foto met twee dansers

    Made in Rotterdam

    Scapino Ballet Rotterdam presents four new works, performed and created by Scapino dancers.
  • Vier rechthoekken met daarin een deel van een menselijk lichaam, zodat zij samen een volledig danserslichaam vormen

    The Square Recordings

    Young makers go on an adventure in this online edition of The Square.
  • Leslie Humbert in The Great Bean

    The Great Bean

    Circus, illusionism, variety and dance: The Great Bean takes place in the atmosphere of the roaring twenties, the emergence of jazz, Hollywood and vaudeville.
  • The Blend

    The Blend

    Scapino starts the new season at the Van Nelle Fabriek, Rotterdam icon and world heritage monument.
  • Pearl

    Pearl

    World class dance, stunning costumes and mesmerising music by composers like Vivaldi.
  • Cathedral campagnebeeld

    Cathedral 2019/2020

    Accompanied by the spiritual music of Arvo Pärt, pure as a heartbeat, Cathedral asks us to reflect on the nature of existence.
  • TOF!

    TOF! at the Parade

    Coming home to a place that never changes. Where you can be yourself and where things are good. With that ideal in mind, seven dancers begin their journey.
  • Twee dansers in intiem duet

    Pas de Deux

    Pas de Deux is a pure music and dance experience. Crystal clear piano by Michiel Borstlap with the eye-catching choreographies of Ed Wubbe, danced by twelve dancers of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
  • twools_headerweb.jpg

    TWOOLS 18

    TWOOLS 18 appears to be the last in the series. It is a worthy finale with world premieres by choreographers Ryan Djojokarso, Joeri Dubbe and Maciej Kuzminski.
  • TING! | choreografie Ed Wubbe (foto Eric Fecken)

    TING!

    Dance, music and circus come together on and above a rotating arena to create an enchanting spectacle.
  • Pablo campagnebeeld

    Pablo

    Pablo is an exciting spectacle with dance, theater and orchestra inspired by the lifetime of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.