| Kaya Kołodziejczyk is a dancer and choreographer. She graduated from the Roman Turczynowicz Ballet School in Warsaw, P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels (scholarship from the European Union and Flemish Government) and Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main (MA). In 2004-2005, she danced in Rosas, a reputable group of Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker. Currently she is an independent artist, creating own projects and participating in performances of other artists in Poland and abroad (i.e. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands). She has collaborated, among others, with Mette Ingvartsen, Kris Verdonck, Szymon Rogiński, Rafał Dziemidok, Mariusz Treliński, David Wampach, Iwona Pasińska or Aleksandra Wasilkowska. For several years she has been creating her own choreographies (including My Favourite Superhero, 2004; One for Francesca, 2002; Off Żak; TMTL; or Oh Noh and other pieces), which have been presented in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. In 2007 Kołodziejczyk founded an independent artistic group U/LOI − Universal Law of Impermanence. The group consists of a few dozens of dance artists, musicians and visual artists. U/LOI gathers such artists as: Ramona Nagabczyńska, Karol Tymiński, Karolina Wołkowiecka, Helena Gołąb and Magdalena Reiter. They are mostly Polish artists who work mainly abroad. Joana Szymajda, current deputy director of the Institute of Music and Dance, collaborated with U/LOI as a dramaturge. To date, Kłodziejczyk and the group have created several projects set in non-theatrical spaces, such as urban, post-industrial or gallery spaces, including PK (Lodz 4 Cultures Festival, 2009), Brith out (premiered at the International Meeting of Live Arts “Crossroads” in Warsaw, as part of the project “Rezonans”, 2009), improv of 3/free styles (Re:visions – Independent Art Invasion in Warsaw, 2007), and Off Żak Project (2nd Gdańsk Dance Festival, 2010). In 2009 Kaya Kołodziejczyk was chosen by the critics of ballettanz magazine the most interesting dancer of the young generation. Since 2011 she has collaborated with the European network of performing arts artists APAP (advancing performing arts project) http://apapnet.eu/ Since 2012, she has been participating as a dancer and performer in the opera The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner, directed by Mariusz Treliński and choreographed by Tomasz Wygoda (Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw). In August 2012, Kołodziejczyk’s collective choreography Widowsko tanceczne Harnasie [Dance Show Harnasie] had its premiere in Zakopane. It is based on and. Based on the first draft score of Krzesany by Wojciech Kilar and the original libretto of Harnasie by Karol Szymanowski, she created a performance drawing on authentic folklore, also contemporary one. Performers from around Poland, presenting various aesthetic and dance styles, were invited to contribute to the project. The performance heralded the 4th International Festival of Chamber Music “Music on the Heights”. In November 2012, Kołodziejczyk’s latest performance, created for U/LOI in collaboration with Karolina Wołkowiecka and Kinematic Ensemble, was be premiered at CROSSROADS 2012 – International Meeting of Live Arts, at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. The structure of Oh Noh is based on Izutsu, a dramatic play written by Zeami, one of the first and most important figures in classical Noh theatre. It is a multimedia piece, a specific deconstructure of the traditional principles of Noh theatre, and an attempt to verify the paradoxical image of the woman as performer, present in the Noh convention. The performance was produced during the choreographer’s residency in Kaaitheater, La Brigittines, and Rosas headquarters in Brussels, as well as Tanzhaus in Zürich. In July 2013, she was commissioned by the Wrocław Philharmonic and the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw to create a choreography set to Witold Lutosławski’s music played live. The production was presented during the 27th ISPA Congress in Wrocław at the Książ Castle in Wałbrzych. In August 2013 Kołodziejczyk created a choreography set to Szymon Brzóska’s composition EXKURS at TRAFO Trafostacja Sztuki, a center for contemporary art in Szczecin. The artistic dialogue between Kołodziejczyk and Brzóska aimed to use the mythical bird Phoenix, a symbol of the Sun and eternal revival. The project was carried out as part of the programme Kolekcja– Zamówienia kompozytorskie [Collection – Composing Commissions] run by the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw. In the summer of 2013, Kołodziejczyk took part in a summer apprentice programme for students, artists and all other people interested in art, held by the Bread and Puppet Theatre in Vermont, USA. This opportunity, along with her “maat festival – border line 2013” dance residency in Lublin, Poland (June 2013), was a starting point for Kołodziejczyk’s new work, SOL. She presented it as a work-in-progress at the 12th International Contemporary Dance Festival Body/Mind in Warsaw, and is going to premiere it in December 2013 as part of the maat festival in Lublin. Throughout 2013 the Maat Studio of the Centre for Culture in Lublin hosted a series of eight dance and performance art residencies, which were recorded by Patrycja Płatnik. The outcomes will be showcased in the form of performances and documentary films on 14-17 December during the maat festival, which will conclude this year’s residency programme. Apart from Kaya Kołodziejczyk, the first edition of “maat festival – border line” featured: Magdalena Jędra, Anita Wach. Anna Steller, Rafał Urbacki, Przemek Kamiński, Korina Kordova, Barbara Bujakowska and Mikołaj Mikołajczyk. In November 2013, Kołodziejczyk choreographed Aria di Prefiche, a part of the triptych Ogniwa [Links], staged by the ballet of Opera na Zamku in Szczecin to the music of Witold Lutosławski. The production was premiered as part of the programme “Taniec z Lutosławskim” [A Dance with Lutosławski], supported financially by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland under the programme “Lutosławski 2013 – Promesa”, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw. As a teacher of contemporary dance and stage movement, she collaborates with the universities in Frankfurt am Main and Giessen in Germany, P.A.R.T.S. and La Rafinerie in Belgium, San Diego State University in the USA, Architanz in Japan, and Tanzhaus in Zurich. She is also a visiting teacher at Staat Theatre Kassel, Ballet National de Marseille or Charleroi Dances. She has won scholarships from the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, DanceWEB 2004, National Centre for Culture in Warsaw (Młoda Polska), the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw under the programme “Wspieranie aktywności miedzynarodowej” [Supporting international artistic activity]. . Moreover, she participated in the programme “Rezonans” [Resonance] co-founded by the Swiss Foundation for Culture ProHelvetia. |
