Graphic design: Beton
We are pleased to announce the premiere of the bilingual, Polish-English anthology Polish Dance Avant-garde Artists. Stories and Reconstructions edited by Joanna Szymajda. The publication is a joint release by the Institute of Music and Dance and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
2017 has been declared the Year of the Avant-garde, which prompts us to rethink the lives and roles of Polish women artists in the development and popularization of new currents of modern dance in the early 20th century. The publication aims to present and explore the biographies and the body of work of Polish and Polish-born dancers and choreographers of the early 20th century dance avant-garde, with particular focus on the interwar period and the emigration and post-war activity of such figures as Bronislava Nijinska, Marie Rambert, Pola Nireńska, Irena Prusicka or Yanka Rudzka.
The main goal of the collection is give these figures their due in the history of dance, and to solidify the history of Polish dance. No less important is the reconsideration of ways in which their legacy and heritage are capable of revitalisation in the work of young artists. Using archive materials and analytical texts, on the one hand, and reconstructive work, on the other, we intend to highlight the significance of Polish dance avant-gardists in the history of dance, and analyse the extent to which their body of work continues to inspire present-day artistic practice.
We hope that this publication will become part of a larger process, which will include an academic conference (2018) and commissions for contemporary pieces (2018/19) inspired by the oeuvres of our heroines.
? Institute of Music and Dance, Warsaw, 2017
? Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Warsaw, 2017
Year of publication: 2017
Edited by: Joanna Szymajda
Text editing and proofreading, Polish version: Joanna Targoń
Text editing and proofreading, English version: Andrew Haydon
Polish-English translations: Józef Jaskulski
English-Polish translations: Adam Zbyszewski
German-Polish translations: Paweł Wasilewski
Graphic design and typesetting: Beton
This publication is co-published as part of the international cultural programme POLSKA 100, coordinated by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and implemented within the frame of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017-2021, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
The book is available at the Prospero bookstore at the Zbigniew Maszewski Theatre Institute at the price of PLN 40 (link), and will soon go on sale at artistic bookstores nationwide.
