The Institute of Music and Dance hosts the first major event dedicated to the activities and aesthetics of the art form, inviting a number of specialists and experts from Poland and around the world to host workshops, discussion panels, installations and performances
The aim of the Congress is to diagnose the changes that have taken place during the systematic transformation in the creative field of dance. All topics raised consider the adaptation of infrastructure, cultural politics and the introduction of systematic solutions for the field. The Congress also serves to integrate institutions that are scattered across the country and abroad, bringing together dancers and their troupes. The event also provides an opportunity for an in-depth analysis of the current state of contemporary dance for both artists and audiences. The most important objective of the Congress is to provide a diagnosis of the current situation and consider the needs for the dance community in Poland. Knowledge gained from this process will become a basis of building a strategy for the development of dance in Poland, which will be further realised by the Institute of Music and Dance.
The Institute of Music and Dance was established on 1st October, 2010 by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Mr. Bogdan Zdrojewski. Its creation was preceded by consultations in the dance and music sector, followed by three month of preparation of a development strategy with Polish organisations and institutions active in these fields. The Institute's mission is to act for the development of music and dance culture in Poland.
The discussion's starting point will be a response to the "1989-2009 Contemporary Dance in Poland report" created by Jadwiga Majewska and Joanna Szymajda as part of the Polish Culture Congress (the report is available at
www.kongreskultury.pl) and the report on systems of dance management in Europe, which followed the 2009 Exchange/Change International Conference at the Body and Mind Festival on the systems of dance management in Europe (available at
www.cialoumysl.pl).
UNESCO celebrates the International Day of Dance on the evening of April 29 at the UNESCO House in Paris, while Warsaw stages a performance of La Bayadère (The Temple Dancer) at the
National Opera in Warsaw on April 28-29 - a performance created by Natalia Makarova based on Marius Petipa's work. Makarova, a dancer and choreographer born in Leningrad, first debuted the production with the American Ballet Theatre in the 1970s. She's traveled the world as a dancer and actress, winning Broadway's Tony Award and Britain's Laurence Olivier Award.
Choreographer and P.A.R.T.S. dance school founder Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has expressed her love of dance on the occasion of the 2011 International Day of Dance, established in tribute to Jean-Georges Noverre:
I think dance celebrates what makes us human. When we dance we use, in a very natural way, the mechanics of our body and all our senses to express joy, sadness, the things we care about. People have always danced to celebrate the crucial moments of life and our bodies carry the memory of all the possible human experiences. We can dance alone and we can dance together. We can share what makes us the same, what makes us different from each other. For me dancing is a way of thinking. Through dance we can embody the most abstract ideas and thus reveal what we cannot see, what we cannot name. Dance is a link between people, connecting heaven and earth. We carry the world in our bodies. I think that ultimately each dance is part of a larger whole, a dance that has no beginning, and no end.
On April 27, Amira Bocheńska debuted her installation "Unity in Diversity", a project that encompasses photography and film, while inviting the viewer to interact with the piece. It is on view until May 15.
The work's starting point came from an improvisational technique created by David Zambrano, one of the most respected artists on the international dance scene. Zambrano, a Venezuelan living in Amsterdam, has worked as a choreographer and teacher for over 20 years. In his teachings he gains inspiration out of intercultural investigations, thus creating his own improvisational technique. An important principal in the improvisation is the use of the senses, whose key element is the intuitive movement in space and development of spacial imagination.
The project speaks of the omnipotent presence of nature in the human world. The installation is illustrated using several large-format photographs and a film of dancers who took part in Zambrano's workshops in Costa-Rica. The audience will be given an opportunity to freely move between the photographs, unconsciously realising the technique of his work Passing Through. Reflective surfaces make the viewer feel like he or she is a part of the ensemble. An integral part of the piece is David Zambrano's lecture/performance for the Warsaw public, followed by an improvisation by professional dancers summarising the project's main ideas.
Organisers of the Congress: the Institute of Music and Dance, and the Ciało/Umysł Foundation.
The 1st Congress on Dance will take place on April 27-29, 2011 at University Library conference rooms in Warsaw, ul.Dobra 55/56.
For a full programme of events, see:
www.kongrestanca.plSource: press information