ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS DANCERS IN MONTREAL / FESTIVAL QUARTIERS DANSES

“The choice of these different symbols of culture and the combination of them all into a personal set produces a new image of contemporary Poland and its position as a country in Europe and the world. The performance is deeply grounded on the identity of the artists”. [review]

This is exactly how we see the three characters on stage: dancing in a way that is a little bit funny, and a little bit sad, sometimes perfect, at other times awkward. They are running through the alley of stars. What is it, though? The road to success which no one can define. [review]

“You can be convinced that we are the same as you are, cured from the same clay. We have no other purpose than the one we declared. This is the basic program for our action. If you help us, we will try to achieve this goal together. Can you help?”

A fragment of a communistic propaganda speech, 1970s, Edward Gierek

The actress and the choreographer are looking at their artistic roots and their stories together, taking on the topic of education and identity. They try to identify what gives them wings and what brings them down. All to the rhythms of the 1980s, Polish folklore, contemporary dance, classic dance influences and full of absurds made in Poland.  Absolutely Fabulous Dancers seek answers and inspirations in the past, in Polish history, everyday movement, body memory and performative tools. This way, the artists from the HOTELOKO movement makers create their unique, absurd and slightly bizarre dance style. It breaks down stereotypes and expectations about who the dancer should be. They are asking questions: What has shaped us? Where are we heading? Does anyone know what our lives would look like without the education that we had to go through? Do we have to wake up and unlearn everything we had to learn to go on? Can you find peace, despite the recurring story that comes back like a boomerang?

Review: http://centrumsztukitanca.eu/en/recenzja-spektaklu-absolutely-fabulous-dancers/

The HOTELOKO movement makers collective was founded in 2016 from the HOTELOKO theatre company established in 2011 by actress, director and producer Agata Życzkowska. Since 2016, the artist runs the collective together with choreographers:  Magdalena Przybysz and Mirosław Woźniak and their core interests evolve around new choreography and dance experimentation. Together they carry out artistic, educational and social projects. They also invite to cooperate the other artists from Warsaw, Poland, Europe and all over the world.

Why HOTELOKO?

Because the collective does not have, by default, a permanent venue and is open to moving around (HOTEL), highly values madness (from the Spanish word “LOCO” meaning mad), and it draws attention to the experience inscribed in the eye (“OKO” means ‘eye’ in Polish).

Why movement makers?

Since the main means of storytelling for the collective is movement (although the team boldly incorporates music and text into their performances as well.)

The collective has developed the following performances to date: frau/mujer/femme, #moiprzyjacieletancza, Absolutely Fabulous Dancers, Darklena, Insta Show and frau blush. They have created their own language of expression, a slightly freak dancing style highlighting the diversity stemming from the different backgrounds and roots of the performers.

The actress Agata Życzkowska’s signature style are sequins that she wears in each of her performances. The glitter and shine is an intended image and is defined by the statement “I live inside a sequin ball”.

Magdalena Przybysz is fascinated with somatic methods, especially Body Mind Centering, authentic movement and feminist threads.

A distinct feature prevailing in the works produced by HOTELOKO movement makers is unpredictability and the involvement of the audience in the performances. In many scenes the audience performatively co-create the world on par with the artists. The core idea is to diminish the boundary between the audience and the performer, switching roles and toying with expectations. The most important criterion is sincerity. HOTELOKO makes shows that touch upon reality, whose plots are inspired by the everyday world both in Poland and abroad. Topics such as community, freedom, the city, tolerance, equality and education are what the artists mostly discuss in their work. The collective works primarily in Warsaw but collaborates with foreign partners as well.

MAGDALENA PRZYBYSZ

Choreographer, dancer. One of the protagonists of books about dance: Pokolenie solo [The Solo Generation] by Anna Królica and Nowy taniec [New Dance] by Witold Mrozek. Recipient of the scholarship of the Minister of Culture in 2013 in the field of dance, recipient of the scholarship: Solo Project 2009 Art Station Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk, graduate of Applied Psychology at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She began her artistic career in 2003 in Kraków at the experimental dance studio Eksperymentalne Studio Tańca (EST) by Iwona Olszowska. Przybysz’s works are often done as collaborations with artists working in other areas and have been shown during prominent cultural events such as the Malta Festival (Przesilenie letnie), at the Centre of Contemporary Art in Warsaw, in Łódź, in Toruń as part of the Scena dla Tańca (Stage for Dance) programme organised by the Institute of Music and Dance (Strange Lóóp), during the Congress of Culture in Wrocław (Wytnij-wklej), the Cricoteca in Kraków (Dancing for the Birds, They watching Us), at the UNITHEA festival in Frankfurt and the Tanztage in Berlin (Mój Poland Drive). Currently, the co-founder of the HOTELOKO movement makers collective together with Agata Życzkowska and Wojciech Grudziński. Author of the choreography for the collective’s performance: frau / mujer / femme based on the creative concept of Agata Życzkowska, and of #moiprzyjacieletancza, Absolutely Fabulous Dancers and Insta Show, all based on her own creative concept and choreography. Moreover, Przybysz continues to developing her expertise and skills by attending a specialist course in somatic education, Body Mind Centering at the Embody Move Association in London where she explores issues related to anatomy, biophysiology and translates this knowledge into the language of modern choreography. A university lecturer, teaching the Choreography of the everyday course at the University in Warsaw and the Somatic Methods course at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

AGATA ŻYCZKOWSKA

Actress, performer, director, dramaturge and producer. A graduate of the Acting Department of the L. Schiller Łódź Film School (2001). Since the very start of her career she was interested in the physical theatre, she took part in projects by Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret (Denmark). She performed in many shows collaborating with choreographers and directors such as Jérôme Bel (a Polish version of The Show Must Go On), Anna de Manincor/ZimmerFrei, Thomas Harzem, Iwona Kempa, Paweł Paszta. Winner of the award For Best Young Actress in the season 2002/2003 and a team award during the I Festiwal Prapremier festival in Bydgoszcz in 2002 for Rodzina Wampira directed by Paweł Szkotak (where she also worked as the director’s assistant on this show). Former Editor in Chief of the social and cultural periodical RAZEM.[TOGETHER.] (2003-2007). She collaborated with the Body/Mind Foundation as coordinator and producer of the Body/Mind Festival and the Warsaw Dance Stage (2011-2013). She ran a number of educational and cultural project for youth in collaboration with Magdalena Przybysz and Dawid Żakowski. Chairperson of the Theatre Developement Foundation ‘NEW WAVE’ (since 2009) and the director of the Dance Art Center in Warsaw (since 2017). Founder of the HOTELOKO movement makers (2011) where she produced, directed and starred in a dozen or so shows. She directed four performances in collaboration with Magdalena Przybysz: frau/mujer/femme (2016), #moiprzyjacieletancza (2016), Absolutely Fabulous Dancers (2017), INSTA SHOW (2018) and a spectacle for children and young adults entitled DARKLENA (2018) in collaboration with Wojciech Grudziński.

MIREK WOŹNIAK

Dancer, vocalist, musical actor, choreographer and performer. Graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Physical Education, the Physical Education department. Workshop student of 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. Graduate of post-graduate studies in Coaching and Mentoring at the Laboratorium Psychoedukacji in Warsaw. Co-founder of the Kompania Primavera collective with Iza Szostak, Ramona Nagabczyńska, Anna Hop, Szymon Osiński, headed by Dariusz Lewandowski. Performed with the collective in: Kofta/Teatr Buffo, Ostatnie takie lato/Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia, Poczekalnia/Teatr Prochoofnia, Madryt 03/Teatr Prochoofnia, Panny z Wilka/Teatr Studio. Dancer, vocalist and actor at Teatr Roma, performer in musicals directed by Wojciech Kępczyński and choreographed by Paulina Andrzejewska: Upiór w Operze, Aladyn Jr, and Nędznicy (choreography by Paulina Andrzejewska) and Miss Saigon (choreography by Marek Pałucki). Many-time participant of the International Ballet Festival in Miami. Solo dancer in The Nutcracker  at the Margot Fonteyn Academy in New York (choreography by Ken Ludden). Assistant to choreographer Anna Hop in the show Calineczka  at Teatr Palladium (directed by Małgorzata Szabłowska, where he also performed as actor, dancer and vocalist). Assistant to choreographer Dariusz Lewandowski on the show Ikar staged during the Vigesima Quinzena de Danca de Almada in Portugal. Designed the choreography for other performances such as A kontra M and Woźniak/Łosik and the productions of Orfeusz i Euredyka and Kraina Niczyja.

ANNA CIUPRYK

Stylist, set designer, lighting designer and photographer. Since the beginning, a permanent collaborator of Miasto Kobiet periodical, collaborates with renowned fashion designers (Natasha Pavluchenko, Michał Starost, Zemełka&Pirowska). Photographer for commercial photo shoots for ad campaigns (4f, Śnieżka – campaign featuring Mamed Kalidov). Develops lookbooks for fashion designers, small and large clothing companies and realises identity campaigns. One of her greatest successes was the publication of her work in the prestigious online portal Fashion Gone Rogue. Collaborates with the HOTELOKO movement makers dance collective. She designed and produced the costumes and photography for the show Absolutely Fabulous Dancers.

http://annaciupryk.com/

More info:

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

http://fundacjarozwojuteatru.pl/en/hoteloko-en/

Contact: biuro@fundacjarozwojuteatru.pl