Iwona Pasińska is a choreographer, movement dramatist, theatre theorist, artistic director of Movements Factory and co-founder of the Movements Factory Foundation.
She graduated from the Feliks Parnell Ballet School in Łódź. She holds a degree in theatre theory from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, where she also did her PhD, focusing on the experience of the body in contemporary theatre from the perspective of dance theatre. In her research she focuses on movement and body expression in performative spaces.
In 1997 Pasińska became the principal dancer of the Polish Dance Theatre (PTT) – Poznań Ballet. A year later she won the Leon Wójcikowski Medal for the most outstanding young dancer. At PTT she mainly danced leading or solo roles. She performed in Ewa Wycichowska’s Niebezpieczne związki [Dangerous Liaisons], Daina, Trans…Nieprawdziwe zdarzenie progresywne [Trans…A Fictitious Progressive Occurrence], Carpe Diem, Wiosna–Effatha [Spring–Effatha]; Jacek Przybyłowicz’s Naszyjnik gołębicy [Ring of the Dove] and Barocco; Rafał Dziemidok’s Medea; Magdalena Reiter’s 36,5°; Mats Ek’s Pół dnia Pół nocy [Half Day Half Night], Yossi Berg’s Wo-man w pomidorach [Wo-man in Tomatoes]; Birgit Cullberg’s Romeo i Julia [Romeo and Juliet]; Virpi Pahkinen’s Zefirum; Susanne Jaresand’s En face; Thierry Verger’s Lato [Summer]; Grey Veredon’s Sługa dwóch panów [Servant of Two Masters]; and Jerzy Makarowski’s Carmen. She worked for PTT until 2008.
Since 2002 she has displayed interest in movement composition, dramaturgy of body expression and choreography, which materialised in the form of three productions premiered at the Atelier of Polish Dance Theatre: Gra I. Czas [Game I. Time], Moment:gra [Moment: game], Gramy x3 [We Play x3].
In 2008, together with Marcin Maćkiewicz, producer and culture promoter, Pasińska founded Movements Factory. With the ensemble she produced Pustynia pary [Steam desert] (Archipelag Malta, 2008), Gramy 4 U [We Play 4 U] (a collaboration with Czesław Mozil as part ofmadeinpoznan.doc, 2009), Saligia, 7 grzechów miejskich [Saligia. 7 Urban Sins] (an open-air performance in urban spaces, Malta Festival, 2009). In 2010 she created two pieces for Movements Factory: Trop: DaNce as Art (premiered at Teatr Wielki in Poznań), named the most interesting dance theatre event of 2010 by Teatr magazine, andBodyLand(produced on invitation from Teatr 8 Dnia as part of the project Drugie miasto).
Since 2010 she has been collaborating as choreographer or movement dramaturge with dramatic theatres, operas and alternative theatres, including: Teatr Wielki in Poznań, where she also directed Piotruś i wilki [Peter and the Wolves], Teatr Wybrzeże, Teatr Współczesny in Szczecin, Teatr Ochoty in Warsaw, Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw, Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Teatr Lubuski in Zielona Góra, and Teatr Modrzejewskiej in Legnica. In dramatic theatre she has collaborated with Marcin Liber on Makbet [Macbeth], IIIFurie [Three Furies], Aleksandra. Rzecz o Piłsudskim [Alexandra: On Piłsudski]; with Piotr Kruszczyński on Wszystko, co chcielibyście powiedzieć po śmierci ojca, ale boicie się odezwać [All You’d Like to Say After Your Father’s Death But Are Afraid to Open Your Mouth] and Człowiek z Bogiem w szafie [A Man with God in His Wardrobe]; with Igor Gorzkowski on Burza [The Tempest], Starucha [The Old Woman], Zaćmienie [Eclipse], Wariat i zakonnica [The Madman and the Nun] and Kalino malino czerwona jagodo [Hey, guelder rose, raspberry, wine-coloured cranberry]; and with Bartosz Frąckowiak on Ksiądz H., czyli Anioły w Amsterdamie [Father H., or Angels in Amsterdam]. In opera Pasińska has collaborated with Natalia Babińska on Halka and Demetrio; with Ignacio Garcia on Hamlet; with Michał Znaniecki on Bal maskowy [A Masked Ball] and Mandragora; with Monika Dobrowlańska on Ophelia; and with Piotr Bogusław Jędzrejczak on Św. Franciszek i Wilk z Gubio [St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio]. She has also performed in a range of dramatic plays: Histericon directed by Piotr Kruszczyński (Teatr Polski, Poznań), Dziady [Forefathers’ Eve] directed by Maciej Prus (Teatr Polski, Poznań), Szekspir… albo co chceta [Shakespeareor…whateva] directed by Andrzej Dziuk, and Krwawe gody [Blood Wedding] directed by Jan Szurmiej. She has also acted as assistant to Claudia Castellucci of Societas Raffaello Sanzio in the process of production of The Rite of Spring.
In 2011 she was involved in the design of the pre-match ceremonies for the UEFA Euro 2012 which Poland hosted. In 2012 she prepared choreographies for the Euro 2012 pre-match ceremonies in Poznań.
Her latest project Święto wiosny <6,6/66> (2013) came to life during her residency at Laboratorium CK Zamek in Poznań and aimed to trigger creative impulses in the participants, especially as regards their body expression, voice expression and visualisation. The participants were amateurs (above 66 and below 6 years of age), and the project’s secondary goal was to work out methods to release creative potential in persons without prior artistic experience.
The artist’s interest in body expression and movement makes it important to her to meet with performers who are not dance or theatre professionals.
