1.U:NEW FESTIVAL DANCE HIGHWAYS / OPENING / AGATA ŻYCZKOWSKA / MIREK WOŹNIAK

10.12.2021 / 19:00 / Centrum Promocji Kultury, ul. Podskarbińska 2

Free entry to all events

Invitation booking required:REGISTRATION

Project co-financed by the European Union Programme “Erasmus+”.

Partners of the network DANCE HIGHWAYS:

La Galerie Chorégraphique/Carcassonne, La Fundición – Asociación Puertas Abiertas/Bilbao, L’ESPACE ASDC/Palermo, Dansearena nord/Tromsø, Theater der Klänge/Germany, Fundacja Rozwoju Teatru ‘NOWA FALA

Organizer: HOTELOKO movement makers

Co-organizer: Centrum Promocji Kultury Praga Południe, ul. Podskarbińska 2 / Warszawa

The U:NEW Festival is co-financed by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, the European Commission in the Erasmus+ Programme, the Cervantes Institute in Warsaw

Media partners: TVP Kultura, portal taniecPOLSKA.pl, miesięcznik TEATR, portal e-teatr, portal teatralny.pl, kwartalnik TANIEC, portal Teatr dla Wszystkich, portal ngo.pl, Notes Na 6 Tygodni NN6T

International Movement Festival U:NEW 

10.12.2021 / 19:00

PROGRAM

“INFLATING” / Klara Szela / Poland/ 10 min.

„HUMAN DILEMMAS” / Maria Salwińska, Zuzanna Strugacz / Poland / 10 min.

“Axiom of Choice” / HOTELOKO movement makers: Agata Życzkowska / Mirek Woźniak / Poland / 40 min.

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“HUMAN DILEMMAS” / Maria Salwińska, Zuzanna Strugacz / 10 min.

Choreography and performance: Maria Salwińska, Zuzanna Strugacz

The piece is an introspection of internal dilemmas (conversations) that each of us has to deal with every day, every hour, every minute. And you, what are you guided by? By Heart or by Reason?

“Choreography created for a competition organized by the ZAiKS Authors’ Association on the initiative of the Section of Authors of Choreographic Works”.

MARIA SALWIŃSKA

She is a professional dancer, currently employed by the “Mazowsze” Ensemble and realizing herself from all artistic and dance angles. In 2020 she started her Master’s degree in Choreography and Dance Theory at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Before that, she spent a year at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London studying Contemporary Dance, participated in the Eastman Summer Intensive 2019 in Antwerp and the ARTDance International Dance Program in Barcelona. She also completed an internship at Székesfehérvári Balett Színház in Hungary. She continues to develop her skills and gain experience by participating in workshops and projects abroad. In 2019 she staged her first dance performance in Krakow “FEMINOW. Femininity. Now”, addressing the aspect of femininity and sensuality. This year she was invited to appear on the TV show “Dance Scene” and participated in UMFC concerts, presenting her own solo and group choreographies.

ZUZANNA STRUGACZ

A graduate of the Krakow Dance Academy L’Art de la Danse, she continued her education at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S.) in Brussels and then at the Elephant in the Black Box Junior Company in Madrid, performing with the group in choreographies by Jean Philippe Dury (‘La Bella Durmiente’, ‘Romeu et Julieta’) and Marco Goecke (‘Nichts’). She is currently working with B’cause Dance Company on their latest production “Cicho, ciszej, hustle”, choreographed by Bartek Woszczyński. Zuzanna is also this year’s scholarship holder of the XVIII edition of the Young Poland Programme for 2021 from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

“INFLATING” / KLARA SZELA / Poland / 10 min.

The performance is inspired by an exhibition by a famous artist of the young generation, Oskar Zięta, who has gained recognition among the world’s audience. Mirror-like surfaces, bionic constructions and organic forms are the hallmarks of Oskar Zięta’s work. Artistic objects and sculptures, inspired by forms taken from nature, receive their material form in a process of “controlled” loss of control thanks to parametric design methods. Based on the process of shaping steel with compressed air (FiDU), the work “INFLATING” was created, directly referring to the above-mentioned technology and indirectly to an attempt to get to know the artist himself through contact with his works. Thanks to the FiDU technology, cold steel acquires an original appearance and extraordinary strength, just as the body, which has no expression in itself, becomes unique thanks to being “inflated” with movement. One of Zięta’s objects called “Tafla mirrors” allows real objects to elongate and bend, so that through reflections the effect of optical enlargement and distortion of movement can be achieved. The name of the project directly refers to the name of the exhibition, due to the fact that the idea was born during the vernissage and later – during a closer attempt to understand the artist’s idea. Zięta points out that the final form follows the production process. The performance “INFLATING” also follows a process in its form. The process consists in reproducing the shape of the sculpture, the internal flow of the object’s energy (produced during the pumping process) on which attention is focused, mainly by means of the sense of sight and individual experiences connected with looking. The project is an attempt to answer the question ” is it possible to get closer to the creator himself through contact with the work of art?” Finding an answer to this question was based on the very notion of process.

Concept, choreography and performance: Klara Szela

Collaboration: Agata Życzkowska / Mirek Woźniak

Costume design: Karolina Buszczak

Video and photo: Adrian Bystroń / Michał Borys / Aleksandra Włodarczyk / Dawid Wiecheć

Music: Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufled

Co-production: ‘NOWA FALA’ Theatre Development Foundation

Premiere: 15.05.2021 / Festival Internazionale Dissidanza / Palermo

Fot. Aleksandra Włodarczyk

KLARA SZELA

Dancer, choreographer, performer. She graduated from the School of Choreography in Krakow with the title of choreographer and contemporary dance instructor (2019). She completed a course in experimental choreography at Centrum w Ruchu in Warsaw under the supervision of choreographers Marysia Stokłosa, Renata Piotrowska-Auffret and Magdalena Ptasznik (2021). Student of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, majoring in Korean at the University of Warsaw. She participated in workshops conducted by choreographer Thierry Verger using the MODAL UNDERGROUND method at the Centre of Dance Art in Warsaw. She studied hip-hop style in Egurolla Dance Studio in Krakow. She also participated in many workshops on techniques such as florwork, contact improvisation, popping. She attended regular Gaga style classes run by Gosia Mielech in Poznań. She completed a two-month course in BYF basics “Beat Ya Feet Basics & History program” under the guidance of Alan “Morningstar” Piotrowski and is a new member of BYF Nation. She practices dance at East Side Dance Academy in Warsaw. She has participated in three projects led by choreographer and dancer Stefano Silvino: “BezEmpatia” (2020), “Almost isTeam” (2021) and “Secret Act” (2021) as well as in Marta Kosieradzka’s performance “African Tales” – a dance theatre project inspired by traditional African stories (2021). Together with Mateusz Pindelski she prepared a choreography “Drowning from Splendor” for the event “Wave of Dance” organized within the confines of II Dance Congress in Warsaw by the Foundation for Theatre Development ‘NEW Wave’ (2020). She also presented this choreography during the Dance Night in Warsaw (2020). She realized a solo entitled. “Inflating” inspired by objects and sculptures of Oskar Zięta, which premiered at the Festival Internazionale Dissidanza in Palermo (2021). She realised a performance in collaboration with Marcin Miętus entitled “untitled” as an echo after Lauri Pawela’s exhibition “Doghood” within the Performative Common Space in Warsaw (2021). She was a grantee of the Performative Project led by Andrew Wass as part of the 12th edition of Warsaw CI FLOW (2021). She performed in the performance “Don’t Stop Me Now” conceived by Agata Życzkowska as part of the 20th edition of the Body/Mind Festival in Warsaw (2021). She took part in the Zawirowania Dance Academy project and show “Zatrzymane”, working under the supervision of choreographer Karolina Kroczak (2021). Together with Milena Suska, she prepared a choreography “well come” for the event CST Stage for Young People, organised by the PERFORM Artistic Foundation (2021). Currently, she is a participant of the next, 6th edition of the Choreography Course at the Centre, organised by the Burdąg Foundation. She also began working with the Warsaw collective HOTELOKO movement makers, within which she collaborates with Agata Życzkowska and Mirek Woźniak. Together, they produced the premiere of “EXTINCTION” in concept by Agata Życzkowska (2021). She is also a participant of HOTELOKO movement makers project “Dance Higways” in Erasmus+ program (2020-2022).

“Axiom of Choice” / HOTELOKO movement makers: Agata Życzkowska / Mirek Woźniak / Poland / 40 min.

The theory of AXIOM OF CHOICE is transformed through the prism of artists’ identity in terms of social and choreography. The selectors they choose are common threads, such as generation, attitude to ecology, numbers, pheromones, blood type, being a different or the smell of childhood mandarins. The axiom of choice in a climate crisis time and apocalyptic time is an optimistic theory. However, this optimism can only be heard at the moment of the meeting.

A choreography composed of choices: pink or blue, dressed or naked, Versace or Chanel. Generation, attitude to ecology, weirdos, pheromones. In the performance, more important than presenting a plot or emotionally identifying with a character is setting up a relationship with space, image, sound and audience. In performance, movement does not mimic or lead to a specific meaning, although the artists use pop culture signs.

People may be closer to each other than they might think. Common sets and disjointed sets create an axiom of choice. Joint discoveries based on the analysis of sets and numbers build closeness, and this understood as an organic need leads to intimacy. Deep insight into the personal stories of each artist allows them to dive into each other’s perspective. This results in a multitude of common sets – selectors that often expose their innermost desires and fears.

The choreography arises from the clash of elements of authentic movement with a retrospective of the performers’ stage incarnations and memories. Action awakens as a result of associations with smells, which are treated as a specific time capsule. The interpenetration of syncretic means of expression, characteristic of the HOTELOKO movement makers, creates a mosaic structure of the performance performed by Mirek Woźniak and Agata Życzkowska.

The performance received the first prize – Large Theatrical Consequence at the festival IV Sopot Theatrical Consequences – 2020 and was also presented in Sicily as part of Festival Internazionale Dissidanza in Palermo (2021).

The performance is performed in English.

Concept: Agata Życzkowska

Choreography, staging, dramaturgy: Agata Życzkowska / Mirek Woźniak

Performers: Agata Życzkowska / Mirek Woźniak /

Video: Wojtek Kaniewski / Agata Życzkowska

Photo: Marta Ankiersztejn / Karolina Jóźwiak

Production: Theatre Developement Foundation ‘NEW WAVE’

Co-production: Dance Art Center in Warsaw

The performance was created thanks to co-financing of the capital city of Warsaw

Creation date: 05.12.2019 / Warsaw / Poland

Fot. Marta Ankiersztejn

AGATA ŻYCZKOWSKA

Choreographer, dancer, actress, director and promoter born and based in Warsaw. Graduate of the Acting Department of the Film and Theatre School in Łódź (2001) and postgraduate studies at the Cultural Diplomacy Department at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (2021). She gained dance education from such artists as: Nadia Kevan, Eugenio Barba, Abani Biswas, Jairo Cuesta, Bruce Myers, Akira Matsui, Augusto Omolú, Gennadi Bogdanov, Raúl Iaiza, Lina do Carmo, Thomas Leabhart, Ray Chung. Since 2009 she is president of the Theatre Development Foundation ‘NEW WAVE’. Since 2011 she has been leading the dance collective HOTELOKO movement makers. From 2016 to 2019 she was the director of the Dance Art Centre in Warsaw. She co-produced and was a performer in the Polish version of “The SHOW MUST GO ON”/Jérôme Bel (2011), took part in “Clean Room”/Juan Dominguez (2013) and “Family Affair”/ZimmerFrei (2015), made the performance “Don’t Stop Me Now” at the 20th edition of the CU Festival (2021). As part of the HOTELOKO movement makers collective, she has made 14 performances including her own concept: “frau / mujer / femme” (2016), “Darklena”(2018), “frau blush”(2018), “Axiom of Choice” (2019), “Extinction” (2021). For the performance “Absolutely Fabulous Dancers” in her own direction and dramaturgy she received the jury award “Coup de Coeur” for originality at the Quartiers Danses Festival in Montreal (2019). She also received the first prize at the Sopot Theatrical Consequences Festival (2020) for the  performance “Axiom of Choice”. Her performances are invited to festivals: Mandala Festival/Wrocław, Festival Localize/Potsdam, Festival Dances-Cités/Carcassonne, Festival Dissidanza/Palermo. She is taking a part in “DANCE HIGWAYS” and “Viral Visions” projects as part of the ERASMUS+ programme with European partners from France, Spain-Basque Country, Italy, Norway, Germany, Austria and Croatia. In 2021 she established a new festival in Warsaw: the International Movement Festival U:NEW.

MIREK WOŹNIAK

Dancer, vocalist, musical actor, choreographer and performer. Graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Physical Education. Workshop student of polish dancers and choreographers  Barbara Sier-Janik, Ewa Głowacka, Henryk Jeż, Iwona Olszowska. Polish Champion in sports dance and sports aerobics, represented Poland in the World Championships in Helsinki. Co-founder of the Kompania Primavera collective.  Dancer, vocalist and actor at Theater Roma in Warsaw, performer in musicals directed by Wojciech Kępczyński and Nutcracker” at the Margot Fonteyn Academy in New York (choreography by Ken Ludden). Designed the choreography for other performances such as “Orpfheus and Euredice” and “No Man’s Land”. Since 2019, he has been cooperating with the HOTELOKO movement makers collective as part of the Foundation’s ‘NEW WAVE’ activities. He received a team award for the performance “Absoultely Fabulous Dancers“ at the Quartiers Danses Festival in Montreal 2019 and the First Award together with Agata Życzkowska for the performance “Axiom of Choice“ on the Festival Consequences in Sopot. For many years he has been educating young people and adults. He carries out dance workshops such as classes in contemporary dance, improvisation and stage movement, mixing various dance techniques used in a musical such as jazz, modern, funk. In working with the HOTELOKO collective, as a dancer and choreographer, he relies on flying low, animal movement and contact improvisation techniques, but also on his original method of permanent flow, which he calls “liquid spirit”.

HOTELOKO movement makers

collective emerged in 2016 from the Theater HOTELOKO founded in 2011 by Agata Życzkowska, the director, actress, dancer and producer. In 2016-2020, she co-founded a collective with choreographer and performer Magdalena Przybysz. Since 2020 she leads HOTELOKO movement makers together with the dancer and choreographer Mirek Woźniak. In 2021, dancer and choreographer Klara Szela joined the HOTELOKO.

The collective has produced the following performances: “frau / mujer / femme” (2016), „My friends are dancing” (2016), “Absolutely Fabulous Dancers” (2017, re-work 2019), “Darklena” (2018), “Insta Show” (2018), “frau blush” (2018) and “Axiom of Choice” (2019).

The collective received the jury award “Coup de Coeur” for the originality of the performance “Absolutely Fabulous Dancers” at the 17th Quartiers Danses Festival in Montreal/Canada (2019) and the First Prize – Large Consequence at the 4th Sopockie Konsekwencje Teatralne Festival in Sopot/Poland for the performance “Axiom of Choice” (2020).

Why HOTELOKO?

Because the collective by definition does not have its permanent seat and is open to travel, constant movement (HOTEL), and also focuses on madness (Spanish loco) and draws attention to the experience and honesty (Polish OKO-EYE) recorded in the eye.

Why movement makers?

Because the main storytelling tool is movement, although the collective boldly weaves words, images and music into their performances as well. The production of movement and the elaborate choreographic structure of the dramaturgy, however, are always leading.

HOTELOKO movement makers collective has developed its own language, a somewhat freaky dance style focusing on diversity resulting from the artists’ different roots.

Agata Życzkowska works mainly on identity threads using authentic movement  and everyday movement, interactive methods, teamwork, emotions and reflection, and multimedia. Her world is dominated by sequins that appear in every performance. The shining is a deliberate image, and it is defined by the sentence: “I live in a sequin ball”.

Mirek Woźniak defines himself as an artist operating on the border of various fields of art. He creates stage creations at the meeting point of dance, singing and acting. It is based on the flying low, animal movement, contact improvisation techniques, but also based on his original method of permanent flow, which he calls “liquid spirit”.

Klara Szela bases her creative work on an experiment by permeating various fields of art. In his work with movement, she combines styles that she continues to explore, and the greatest influence is gaga movement, urban style and contact improvisation. Her projects are related to the architecture of space, which is why her works are often created at exhibitions and in public spaces.

HOTELOKO movement makers produces performances that touch reality. Dramaturgy is inspired by today’s world in Poland, Europe and the world. A characteristic feature of the collective’s work is the unpredictability and the involvement of viewers in the performances. In many scenes, it is the audience who performatively co-creates the world together with the artists. The main idea is to blur the line between viewers and performers, reverse roles and play with expectations. The most important criterion is honesty. The creators work mainly in Warsaw, but also cooperate with foreign partners. The performances are presented in Polish and English.

https://www.facebook.com/hoteloko/