Photo: Aleksandra Osowicz. Project: Michał Łuczak.
On Sunday 29 May at 7 pm, the Old Brewery New Dance will present the premiere of Bataille. Świt nowych dni (Bataille: Dawn of New Days), a performance by Sławek Krawczyński (direction) and Anna Godowska (choreography). The piece is a continuation of The_Rite_of_Dreams_Project launched by the artists in 2013. The first work in the project, Niżyński. Święto snów (Nijinsky. The Rite of Dreams) was performed by Tomasz Wygoda.
About the performance:
What may the journey toward the impossible look like? Six dancers in the world of movement inspired by French writer and philosopher Georges Bataille. A dissenter against contemporary culture, Bataille was one of the few 20th-century thinkers who dared ask about the point and shape of human existence in such an uncompromising and ruthless way. His rebellious ideas targeted the contemporary culture built around a system of work which, he claimed, has led humans into barren territories. He believed that the road to reaching full human potential involved an act of transgression that requires abandoning the safe borders and heading toward the unknown. A new human would, or at least might, arise from that act. A sovereign of their own existence. The winner of authenticity. Or maybe just a funny person and a dancer, to whom he refers in The Accursed Share.
Bataille challenges us. He leads us to a place where ?all the violent emotions blend into one?. With a silent gesture, his paradoxical philosophy points to dance. While dancing, we discover the terror and new spaces hidden deep inside. Dancing, we jump into a void and find laughter. Dancing, we get immersed in the dark puzzle of eroticism, to finally arrive in the ?world of celebration, kings and gods?. Dance becomes an attempt at sovereignty, clearly and without any words expressing the extraordinary dramatics of Bataille?s ideas, with the main question: Can we come into existence again?
The project was inspired by a range of Bataille writings, including Inner Experience, The Tears of Eros, The Accursed Share, and Eroticism. The artists studied them extensively, applying a method of working with dreams and the subconscious which they have been developing since 2005 as part of the Dance of the Dreaming Body project. This is a creative synthesis of techniques inspired by Carl Gustav Jung?s analytical psychology, Arnold Mindell?s process oriented psychology, and improvisation and meditation techniques the artists have developed over years of research. The work is a continuation of The_Rite_of_Dreams_Project launched by the artists in 2013.
Tickets available at ebilet.pl
Script and direction: Sławomir Krawczyński
Choreography: Anna Godowska
Dancers: Aleksandra Bożek-Muszyńska, Natalia Dinges, Paweł Grala, Bartosz Ostrowski, Łukasz Przytarski, Zofia Tomczyk
Music: collage & remix
Photographs: Aleksandra Osowicz
Graphic design: Michał Łuczak
Technical production: Łukasz Kędzierski
Production: Art Stations Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk
Co-producers:
Body/Mind Foundation
20th International Meetings of Dance Theatres
Culture Centre in Lublin
Project partner: Ania Kuczyńska brand
The project was realised within a grant from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Sławek Krawczyński and Anna Godowska have worked together since 1999. In 2001?2012 they ran the Bretoncaffe Theatre. The core of their collaboration, the Dance of the Dreaming Body research project, was launched in 2005 during Godowska?s residency at Centre national de la danse Pantin-Paris. The goal of this long-term project is to apply the ideas of Carl Gustav Jung?s analytical psychology and Arnold Mindell?s process oriented psychology in theatre and dance practice.
Their artistic explorations culminate in The_Rite_of_Dreams_Project launched in 2013. The first piece created in the project, Niżyński. Święto snów (Nijinsky. The Rite of Dreams), is based entirely on the methods they keep developing. The work received two Ministry of Culture and National Heritage awards at the Polish Dance Platform 2014 in Lublin, for best performance and for artistic quality. In the ranking list The Best in 2013/2014 Season run by Teatr monthly, the piece was included in the best dance theatre performance in Poland category. In 2015, on the 15th anniversary of their artistic collaboration, Godowska and Krawczyński received a Ministry of Culture and National Heritage award for their artistic achievements and contribution to the development of contemporary dance in Poland.
