Photo: Marta Byrska.
On Saturday, 9 January (19.00), ROZBARK Bytom Dance and Movement Theatre in Bytom (ul. Kilara 29) has a pleasure to invite all those interested to the show RYLE.metamorfozy [RYLE.metamorphosis] choreographed and performed by Piotr Mateusz Wach. The performance analyses sensitivity of a modern Polish miner and is told with the dancer?s body and abstract movement, multiplied with video installations. It is a show about men created by men. It tells the story of emotions, hard work, sense of obligation, sacrifice and danger. Of an attempt to grasp the sense.
Is reality black and white?
What does a miner see when he closes his eyes?
What do I see?
Miners are seen as commonplace workers, not thinking about anything more than the amount of coal processed during the day. They call themselves ?tympe ryle?, a colloquial phrase meaning ?stupid diggers?. Because of their profession, miners are perceived as simple and pragmatic people. In Poland, there is a popular stereotype of miners as hardened rock breakers. But what if there exists a sensitive miner? What if he is haunted by the same anxieties and questions which haunt me, an artist? During his work, can a miner ask himself questions about the sense of his existence? The value of art? Is there a place for reflection, agitation, emotions in a mine?
Piotr Mateusz Wach: ?The show connects a video installation and performance art. I draw a lot of inspiration from modern art. Two intertwining narrations expressed through video and movement are aimed at demonstrating my personal approach, my vision of work in a mine, as well as emotions and effort associated with it. The aesthetics of movement, which forms the foundation for the performance, is a veritable laboratory. I have decided to boldly experiment with movement forms, allowing myself to dice with the duration of movement and its repeatability. Thus, its mechanical nature, which for me connotes with mining machines, is rooted both in the video concept and in the nature of movement. I have been fascinated with Silesia and mining for quite some time and have been planning to touch upon this subject in my works. I moved to Bytom 5 years ago to study and stayed, completely assimilating. However, working on this performance has enabled me to experience a closer encounter with mining. Owing to the project, I could go down to a mine a few times, take a shower in the miner?s bathroom and have a beer with miners during the celebration of Barbórka.?
Concept, choreography, performance: Piotr Mateusz Wach
Space concept, visualisations, video: Przemysław Jeżmirski
Music: Bartosz Zaskórski
Photo documentation: Marta Byrska
The project is created owing to an art scholarship from the Governor of Silesia and the support of ROZBARK Bytom Dance and Movement Theatre.
