Agata Życzkowska is an actress, performer, director. She graduated from the Faculty of Acting at the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź (2001). She is the president of the Theatre Development Foundation NEW WAVE, member of presidium of the Social Dialogue Committee for Dance at the Culture Office in Warsaw, and co-organiser of the Dance Art Centre in Warsaw.
Since the beginning of her dance career, she has maintained ties with physical theatre and activities at the fringe of theatre, dance, and performance: she has participated in numerous workshops with Jerzy Grotowskis students (Eugenio Barba: Odin Week, ISTA; Abani Biswas: Milon Mela; Jairo Cuesta and James Sloviak: New Word Performance Laboratory; Bruce Myers and Toshi Tsuchitor: actors of Peter Brooks theatre company Raúl Iaiza: Teatro La Madrugada, Milan) and contact improvisation workshops /Ray Chung/ held as part of the Warsaw Flow Festival. In 2003-2007, she was the editor-in-chief at the social and cultural periodical RAZEM. Świat w naszych oczach. She is a recipient of a number of acting prizes, among others the best ensemble prize awarded by the Mayor of the City of Bydgoszcz at the 1st World Premieres Festival for Rodzina wampira [The Family of a Vampire] directed by Paweł Szkotak (where she starred as Marina and was the assistant director) and the 2002 Best Young Actor Prize awarded by the Polski Theatre in Bydgoszcz.
In 2011-2013 Agata Życzkowska collaborated with the Body/Mind Foundation as the coordinator of the body/Mind Festival and the Warsaw Dance Stage, where she produced the You KANT Dance project choreographed by Magdalena Przybysz. She was the casting director, producer, and performer in the Polish instalment of Jérôme Bels The Show Must Go On staged at the Dramatyczny Theatre in Warsaw as part of the Body/Mind Festival (2011). She also directed Forefathers Eve choreographed by Beata Wojciechowska, presented at the 2012 Warsaw Dance Stage, and contributed as performer to the Family Affair project by the Italian collective ZimmerFrei, presented as part of the 2015 edition of the Warsaw Dance Stage.
In 2011, Agata Życzkowska founded the HOTELOKO Theatre (presently known as HOTELOKO movement makers), where she has produced, acted and performed in several projects, among others the physical theatre piece. Pracownia Ludica nr 2 [No. 2 Ludica Workshop] with the Spanish company Enczima Teatro (2011), and two performances: selfie (2014) and jutro: urodziny [tomorrow: birthday] (2015) in collaboration with the German director Thomas Harzem.
The piece frau mujer femme, based on Agata Życzkowskas concept (she also performed in and directed the piece) and choreographed by Magdalena Przybysz, has been presented at a number of venues, including the Warsaw Dance Platform and Berlin Tatwerk (2016). Within the frame of HOTELOKO movement makers Agata Życzkowska collaborates with choreographers Magdalena Przybysz and Wojciech Grudziński. They have jointly developed two projects based on Magdalena Przybyszs concept and dramaturgy (each piece was directed by Agata Życzkowska): the piece #moiprzyjacieletancza [#myfriendsdance] (presented as part of the Studio Dance Stage in Warsaw in 2016 and the 2017 edition of Stage for Dance), as well as Absolutely Fabulous Dancers (2017).
Agata Życzkowska also works as a pedagogue with junior high and high school students, and at youth education centres, where she has directed two artistic and social performances (together with Magdalena Przybysz and Dawid Żakowski): nowe wyzwolenie [new liberation] (2015) and Syrena herbem twym zwodnicza/ABOUT FREEDOM (2016).
