Karol Tymińskiis an independent dancer and choreographer. He studied at the Turczynowicz Ballet School in Warsaw and the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (P.A.R.T.S.) in Brussels. Karol performed in a range of productions by noted dance artists such as Nigel Charnock, Jennifer Lacy, Agneja Seiko and Joseph Alter. He also took part in two productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals directed by Wojciech Kępczyński, director of the Musical Theatre “Roma”: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Jan Kochanowski Theatre in Radom, 1996) and Cats (Musical Theatre Roma, 2007). The first of the two shows was Karol’s debut on stage; it also inspired the artist to enrol in a ballet school.
From the very beginning of his career, he has been creating original solo choreographies, presented both in Poland and abroad, including CretaforC (Brussels, 2006), 4:04 (Warsaw, 2007), Orlando (Poznań, 2008). Orlando was produced at Poznań’s Stary Browar (Arts Stations Foundation) as part of the residency programme for young choreographers Solo Projekt, in which Karol participated in 2009. The solo, constructed as a series of repetitions, performed in a fusion of classical ballet and contemporary dance, is inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel by the same title. Dressed in a white tunic, with the face whitened to remind of a mask, the dancer is seeking to conjure up a character of fluid, labile identity, eluding unequivocal gender classifications.
In 2011 Tymiński produced another solo – Doll House. Drawing inspiration from the vision of utopian American society of the 1950s, Doll House explores that period’s woman figure and her ascribed roles. In the same year, the artist took part in Edyta Kozak’s and Roman Rowiński’sFolk A ja się nie zgadzam, which presents a clash of tradition and the reality of present experiences and work conditions. Both works premiered at the 10th International Contemporary Dance Festival and were presented at the 1st edition of Warsaw Dance Stage (2011). In the spring of 2013, at the 3rd edition of Warsaw Stage for Dance, Tymiński presented for the first time his latest work – BEEP. The project refers to the “beep test” used to evaluate a person’s resistance to fatigue and ability to carry on a task for an extended period of time. The main idea here is to drive the individual to his or her extremes, at which point the dependence of the emotional state on the physical condition is very high.
Apart from the residency at Stary Browar, Tymiński received scholarships from the European Commission, Alternative Dance Academy and the mayor of Radom.
He is a member of the independent dancers’ association Universal Law Of Impermanence (ULOI), established on the initiative of Kaya Kołodziejczyk, another P.A.R.T.S. graduate. He regularly takes part in ULOI projects, such as Impro of 3/free styles(Warsaw, 2007),Euro Doll(Warsaw, 2007) andBrith Out…(“Rozdroże” International Action Art Festival, Warsaw, 2008), a project fusing dance and installation, produced in Serbia (Belgrade) and in Poland thanks to the support of Pro Helvetia foundation. The starting point forBirth Out…was Conrad Drzewiecki’s famous choreographyKrzesany(1977) being reconstructed by improvising dancers. However, what became the central theme of the work is the perception of human body and of the dancer’s figure in a gallery, as well as patterns of the performance/exhibition/installation’s reception.
Tymiński participates in the famous projectHappyproduced in Stary Browar by Nigel Charnock, former member of the British DV8 Physical Theatre.Produced in Poznań with Polish dancers, Happy explores the most popular national stereotypes; and although except for several scenes, the piece does not go beyond irony, its main strength is the outstanding quality of acting and dancing displayed by the group of Polish dancers, including apart from Tymański, Barbara Bujakowska, Natalia Draganik, Bartosz Figurski, Maciej Kuźmiński, Janusz Orlik, Renata Piotrowska, Anna Steller, Aleksandra Ścibor.Happywas presented in Poland and inLondon’s ThePlace.
Apart from his artistic activity, Tymiński is also an active teacher – he collaborates with commercial dance schools (where contemporary dance is most often taught today), i.e. Isadora Duncan Academy and Free Art Fusion in Warsaw.
