Pictured: Gallery Dance Theatre, Monday morning. Photo: Organizers' archieve.
On 3-6 October 2013 Lublin will be hosting the Belarusian Physical Theatre Platform “PlaStforma”. Organised by the Lublin Dance Theatre (LTT), the event will be one of the highlights of the Eastern Partnership Culture Congress, featuring four leading Belarusian dance and physical theatres: Slava Inozemcev’s InZhest (Minsk), Alexander Tebenkov’s Gallery Dance Theatre (Grodno), Inna Aslamova’s Quadro Dance Theatre (Homel) and Olga Skvorcova’s Dance Company SKVO’s (Minsk). As well as presenting their latest works, the artists will run dance workshops.
Lublin’s Culture Centre, and its Dance Theatre in particular, have been collaborating with Belarusian dance and movement theatres for a number of years now. Belarusian ensembles have performed in Lublin at subsequent International Dance Theatre Festivals (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2012), as well as in the city’s surrounding towns of Chełm and Krasnystaw, presenting their works and conducting workshops.
The Lublin Dance Theatre was the first of Polish dance theatres to perform at the Dramatic Theatres of Grodno and Vitebsk in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Visits in Minsk, Homel and Grodno soon followed, with Polish artists presenting their work, running workshops and giving talks on dance in Poland and Europe in general. It may surely be said that LTT has the longest and richest tradition of artistic and educational collaboration with Belarusian dance theatre among Polish dance institutions.
Organizers:
The project is special both artistically and organisationally. It is about promoting the most exciting Belarusian theatres performing under the label of “PlaStforma”, a name of the first ever joint endeavour of Belarusian dance, movement and mime theatres. On the other hand, the project is an example of extraordinary interest and involvement of Polish and European dance and theatre professionals (artists, curators, producers, critics), who are gathering in Lublin to get themselves familiar with Belarusian artists and support them on the European scene. We are certain that in the present political situation, with Poland being part of the EU, initiatives of this kind are particularly significant, doing away with stereotypical perceptions of Europeans and Belarusians, and opening a way for cross-border understanding.
What is PlaStforma? It is an initiative seeking to become a multilayer forum for dance, choreography and theatre, embracing performance showcases, workshops, debates and meetings. While producing physical theatre, dance theatre and contemporary theatre, Belarusian choreographers are constantly searching for a new form of expression, never losing sight of their roots: mime, meticulous technical movement, flexibility of the body and, finally, visual theatre. Up until now the discussions generated by PlaStforma involved mainly Belarusian artists and audiences. Despite their guest appearances abroad, Belarusian choreographers lack confrontation with European dance circles and could benefit from a systematic dialogue with their representatives. That is how the idea of holding PlaStforma in another country came to life.
The Eastern Partnership Culture Congress in Lublin is a perfect opportunity take the discussions a step further and launch more intense artistic exchange on a cross-border scale. Planting PlaStforma in other countries can only help the project develop fully. Consequently, on 3-6 October Lublin, and the critics, promoters and experts taking part in the event, will see a showcase of Belarusian artists’ works and conceptions of new dance and movement theatre, juxtaposed with other disciplines of contemporary art. Also held will be workshops by Belarusian artists, meetings and debates on performance art in Belarus.
Joining their Belarusian counterparts on the stage of the Academic Culture Centre in Lublin will be the event’s hosts and organisers, namely artists of the Lublin Dance Theatre and the Contemporary Dance Group of the Lublin Technical University. It will not be the first meeting of the artists from both sides of the border, as they have been collaborating on numerous occasions before, but a subsequent opportunity to compare their artistic visions in their similarities and divergences.
THE PERFORMANCES
3 October, Academic Culture Centre “Chatka Żaka”
6 pm Lublin Dance Theatre:48/4
choreography: Ryszard Kalinowski
7 pm Contemporary Dance Group of the Lublin Technical University “Opium”
choreography: Anna Żak
4 October, Academic Culture Centre “Chatka Żaka”
6 pm Gallery Dance Theatre:monday morning
idea, direction and choreography: Aleksandr Tebenkov
6.50 pm Gallery Dance Theatre:come and go
idea and choreography: Viktoria Balcer
7.20 pm SKVO’s Dance Company:Decadence. Dialogi [Decadence. Dialogues]
choreography: Olga Skvorcova
5 October – Academic Culture Centre “Chatka Żaka”
6 pm Quadro Dance Theatre: no night train
idea, stage design: Inna Aslamova
7 pm SKVO’s Dance Company:HappyValentine
choreography: Olga Skvorcova
7.20 pm SKVO’s Dance Company:Ja do n-tej potęgi [Me to the power of n]
choreography: Olga Skvorcova
6 October – Square in front of the Culture Centre of Lublin
8 pm InZhestTheatre: The Emperor’s last clothing
directed by: Slava Inozemcev
*Admission to ALL events FREE
