The theatre and dance performance was based on the text of A Tale of Four Princesses by Zofia Pomian-Piętka. Children and young people from the Capella Antiqua Bialostociensis Early Music and Dance Ensemble will take viewers to the distant times of the Renaissance.
The performance will feature French, Italian and Polish court dances, such as Branles, Belle qui tiens ma vie, Bizzaria d'Amore, Dolce amoroso fuoco, Cantio polonica and Rex. Choreographies for them were created by such masters as Thoinot Arbeau, Fabritio Caroso, Cesare Negri, Helena Szuhalska and Romana Agnel – a notable contemporary expert and choreographer not only of court dances, founder and director of the Cracovia Danza Court Ballet in Kraków. The performers have included elements of the commedia dell'arte for the first time in their production, working under the professional supervision of Agnieszka Cianciara-Frohlich, actress and director of the Kraków Komedianty Theatre.
The Early Music and Dance Ensemble Capella Antiqua Bialostociensis was founded in 1998 at the ‘Śródmieście’ Cultural Centre in Białystok and currently has 27 members. The artists’ repertoire includes Old French, Italian, English, and Polish court dances. The members of the ensemble are children and teenagers from Białystok schools who perform during concerts in costumes modelled on the original Renaissance and Baroque court costumes. They look especially beautiful against the background of historic architecture, including the "Podlasie Versailles" – the palace of Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki and other historic places in Poland. The Capella Antiqua Bialostociensis has performed many times, a.o. on Wawel and in the Main Market Square in Kraków, at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, on the Main Square in Wrocław, and also abroad. The ensemble has won several prizes at of the National Festival of Early Music Ensembles ‘Schola Cantorum’ in Kalisz, where in 2006 and 2020 it won the Golden Harp and the Grand Prix of the Festival. It presents itsskills and participates in the workshops un by the "Cracovia Danza" International Festival of Cour Dances in Kraków. It has been invited for collaborations, including by the Court Ballet "Cracovia Danza", the Old Instruments Group of the Warsaw Music Society "Ars Nova" or the Foundation "Pro Anima" from Białystok. For over 20 years of work, the ensemble has prepared 17 Renaissance and Baroque programmes and released 4 DVDs with their best dance performances.
Helena Szuhalska is the artistic director, choreographer and instructor of the dance group.