Wrocław Mime Theatre: Premiere of History of Ugliness by Anna Piotrowska

On Friday, 7 February 2014, the Wrocław Mime Theatre is debutingHistoria brzydoty [History of Ugliness], directed and choreographed by Anna Piotrowska.The piece draws inspiration from Umberto Eco’sOn Ugliness, a canonical literary work exploring aesthetic theory and presenting the reader with a series of different, often surprising, facets of ugliness. Here Eco’s opus inspires questions on the contemporary perception of female beauty. The production juxtaposes two conventions – dance and miming.

Next performances are taking place on 8 and 9 February (7 pm). We have to-person invitations to the premiere and the two subsequent showcases in stock for our readers. Please send us an e-mail to julia.hoczyk@taniecpolska.pl to get one.

About the piece:

Contemporary concepts of beauty and ugliness, along with the process of aestheticisation of life’s every aspect, trigger an increasing willingness to conform to the model of female attractiveness and femininity that is promoted in the media and that is bound up in slender figure, long legs, large breasts and lips. The outer package has become more important than anything we have to offer as human beings. Intelligence and emotionality have become uncomfortable features, as getting to know them requires involvement and effort. To make our relations with other people easier, we become superficial, focusing solely on external displays of beauty/ugliness. The contemporary model of femininity has become flat, like the pictures published in women’s magazines. Working on the piece we have been asking ourselves: Is this model real? Is it possible to implement it in real life or is it just an illusion created by airbrushing? Most importantly we have been asking if today’s relation between beauty and ugliness makes it possible to build lasting relationships between people and if it may provide us with a real sense of self-worth?

Historia brzydoty[History of Ugliness]
direction, choreography, stage and lighting design: Anna Piotrowska
music: Michał Mackiewicz
costume design: Anna Piotrowska/Adam Królikowski

Cast:
Anaza – Izabela Cześniewicz
Anaszka – Agnieszka Dziewa
Anaria – Maria Grzegorowska
Anagi – Agnieszka Kulińska
Anakha – Monika Rostecka

Historia brzydotywas produced in association with the Laboratory of Movement, a project affiliated with the European Capital of Culture 2016.

Partners: Impart 2016Festival Office, Institute of Music and Dance