The Days were started up by Aleksandra Dziurosz, with the aim of instigating and reinforcing international networking among dancers. Dziurosz comments:
Polish artistic dance is currently undergoing a phase of active development, yet this development is often impeded by the flow of choreographers travelling abroad as well as the fact that dance artists, groups and works are not recognised enough. This is in part due to organisational and financial difficulties that independent groups struggle with, and, on the other hand, it is a result of a limited awareness of the audience which often assumes that international productions are more valuable than Polish ones. The multifaceted Warsaw art environment, is in a paradoxical way an excellent exemple of the above mentioned problems and at the same time a place which has huge potential. (...) I would love for the Warsaw Dance Days International Festival to be a trigger that frees this potential.
The stage at 12 Elektoralna street in Warsaw hosts performances by Polski Teatr Tańca, Krakowski Teatr Tańca, Warszawski Teatr Tańca, and Helena Gołąb from Poland. Its international performers include Victoria Krajina, Michelle Azdajic, Bianca Anne Braunesberger, and the Vidlunnja Dance Theatre. The Austruan choreographer, dancer and pedagogue Ulrike Hager also takes part in a monthly residency programme. Hager, a graduate of presitgious dance schools in Linz and Amsterdam, prepares a performance for the Warsaw Dance Theatre, celebrating its 5th anniversary. The piece, entitled Pink Noise, juxtaposes the art world of the turn of the centuries with the punk movement, drawing analogies in the way that the two celebrate romatic ideals of decay and renounce social order. Throughout their stay in Warsaw, the dancers had studied Nizynsky’s Afternoon of the Faun from over a century ago.
Also running alongside the Warsaw Dance Days is a conference entitled The Image of Polish Dance Across the World, and an exhibition Polish Dance through the Camera Lens, with photography by Marta Ankiersztejn, Iwona and Jarosław Cieślikowski and Janusz Matuszewski. The main theme of the conference will be addressed from different perspectives - scientific, ethonological, choreological and artistic ones, with both the dancer’s and the choreographer’s stances taken into account, as well as the social context of the perception of Polish dance abroad.
Programme details
- November 7th, 2013 (Thursday)
7 pm
Sinfonia estravaganza and others, Vidlunnja Dance Theatre (UA)
Black diamond, Helena Gołąb (E/PL), Polish Premiere
- November 8th, 2013 (Friday)
7 pm
solo(w) Tauschfühlung (A/PL)
Said Unsaid, Victoria Krajina & Michelle Azdajic (BA/PL/US), Premiere
- November 9th, 2013 (Saturday)
3 pm
The Image of Polish Dance Across the World conference
7 pm
Pink Noise, Warsaw Dance Theatre (A/PL), Premiere
- November 10th, 2013 (Sunday)
7 pm
Hello, Stranger! Polski Teatr Tańca (PL)
Cicindela, Krakowski Teatr Tańca (PL)
Warsaw Dance Days are hosted by the Mazowieckie Centrum Kultury i Sztuki (Mazovian Centre for Culture and Art) at 12 Elektoralna street in Warsaw.
Anna Legierska, translated with edits by Paulina Schlosser, source: press release, 4.11.2013