The Belarussian Drama Theatre hosted showings of Polish contemporary dance performed by the Zawirowania dance theatre group. Their "Innocent When You Dream" is a story of outcasts set to the music of Tom Waits
Prior to the performance, Belarussian University of Culture and Art in Minsk hosted four days of workshops, conducted by Zawirowania and the Belarussian D.O.Z.S.K.I contemporary dance group. The results of their collaboration were presented in a group improvisation performance, with elements of choreography prepared by Dimitri Zalevsky.
That same evening, Zawirowania performed "Innocent When You Dream". With the soundtrack of Tom Waits' music, the piece tells the story of outcasts who meet in a pub, cut away from the surrounding world. Another performance by D.O.Z.S.K.I. contemporary dance group from Minsk also took place on that evening.
Following the group's visit in Minsk in October, the last show to be presented in the Belarusian capital on the 22nd of November was "Zbliżenia" ("Encounters"). The performance employed choreography to paint a picture of complicated relationships between men and women.
"Zbliżenia" examined to what extent we engage in relations with real persons, and to what extent it is just their image or an idea that we are infatuated with. Poetic images depicted how relationships change with time and conveyed men's confrontation with the image of masculinity created by women.
Between the 21st and 24th of November, Zawirowania also conducted dance workshops together with the D.O.Z.S.K.I. group. The final choreography presented on the last day of the workshops includes many elements of improvisation.
As one of few universities in Europe, the Belarussian University of Culture and Art in Minsk has its own Department of Choreography. The Department holds classes in folk, cabaret, and contemporary dance.
The Belarussian Drama Theatre venue is one of the biggest and most acclaimed theatres in Minsk, with 300 audience seats available. The Theatre often hosts underground theatres, which do not have acces to their own performance space.
"Innocent When You Dream" cast:
Elwira Piorun
Karolina Kroczak
Bartek Figurski
Szymon Osiński
Włodzimierz Kaczkowski
Date: 8th of October - 24th of November, 2011
Venue: Belarussian Drama Theatre, Minsk
Organised by: Fundacja Scena Współczesna, D.O.Z.S.K.I
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute