© BETON
On Tuesday, 28 October a press conference was held in Warsaw regarding the Polish Dance Platform 2014, and gathering:
Joanna Szymajda, Deputy Director, Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw
Ryszard Kalinowski, Anna Kalita, Centre for Culture in Lublin/Lublin Dance Theatre
Jadwiga Majewska, Chair of the Artistic Commission, Polish Dance Platform 2014
Michał Karapuda, Director of the Culture Department, Lublin City Hall
The conference served to present the assumptions of the Polish Dance Platform 2014, discuss the importance of this year’s edition for the development of dance in Poland and for enhancing international cooperation (especially in the region of Central and Eastern Europe), as well as to introduce the programme of the showcase, including additional events. The speakers put emphasis on the role of the Polish Dance Platform 2014 in the framework of Lublin’s strategy for culture development. A press conference will also be held in Lublin, on 30 October.
The finals of the Polish Dance Platform are to be held on 7?9 November 2014 in Lublin. This year’s event is organised in association with the Centre for Culture in Lublin.
The Polish Dance Platform is a competitive showcase of the most interesting dance performances produced by Polish artists in the last two years. The first event of this kind in Poland was the “taniec.pl” showcase held in 2003 in Warsaw as part of the Body/Mind International Contemporary Dance Festival. The idea was revived five years later. The previous three editions in 2008, 2010, and 2012 were all held in Poznań by the Zamek Culture Centre and the Art Stations Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk. In 2013 the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw took over at the project?s steering wheel, based on an agreement with previous organisers. Consequently, we have decided that the Platform should take place every two years in a different Polish city, moving from one important dance centre to another.
The pieces presented this year have been selected by a nine-person Artistic Commission. They spent the last year and a half travelling across the country to watch almost a hundred works entered into the competition, and chose 13 to go to the finals. Among the successful works there are ones by recognised artists who have already become legends of the Polish dance scene, and by young, emerging creators. We put special emphasis on the originality of the works in international context. That is why, every one of the productions presents a different approach to dance aesthetics, relationship with the audience, theatricality, choreography, and body work.
Apart from the chance to see dance performances, the Platform offers presentations of the latest developments on the dance scenes of selected Central and Eastern European countries (Mapping dance), and a series of meetings with artists recommended by the Platform?s Artistic Commission (Artist at a Glance). As part of the Platform we will also hold a networking event, Open Platform, to facilitate new contacts between artists and institutions that support contemporary dance here in Poland and abroad.
The finals of the Polish Dance Platform will, as always, gather festival directors, representatives of dance centres, journalists, and curators from Europe, the USA , and Asia. We believe that this way the Platform helps Polish contemporary dance artists to secure themselves a permanent spot on the national and international cultural map.
More details: www.polishdanceplatform.pl
