Venice: “Residue” choreographed by Julia Bentkowska and Julia Litwin at La Biennale di Venezia 2026

The Polish artists were selected for the prestigious Biennale College Danza – Choreographers program from among numerous international applicants. The performance explores themes of memory, time gaps, and universal human experiences.

A place where time ceases to exist is filled with a transformed entity. Objective events, a record of true constancy, are re- placed by subjective experiences and memories. A place emerges where continuity becomes a construct, not a fact, where identity is re-examined. Through the active structure of their fragile presence, the human takes on the form of an anti-monument. The body is not a testament to the past, but a site of constant transformation of experience.

Memory contains mechanisms for modelling a gap in time, giving individual breaks in the notation a shape-shifting, fleeting character. Pause is a crucial tool that impacts culture and art, and even everyday life, through absence. The transformation of memories serves to organise collective experi- ence. It provokes attention, introduces uncertainty and forces a redefinition of what presence and absence are.

Source: La Biennale di Venezia

Creators:

Choreography: Julia Bentkowska, Julia Litwin
Dramaturgy: Elżbieta Chowaniec
Set design: Magdalena Walna
Music: Przemek Degórski
Costume design: Wiktor Krajcer
Lighting design: Giulia Bandera

Biennale College Danza performers: Martina Balzamo, Giorgio Adam Forlani, Yawen Huang, Elaini Lalousis, Siyu Li, Garris Muñoz, Pam Pam Phusanisa Sapchartanan, Melissa Venturi Degli Esposti, Pengfan Wu

Production: La Biennale di Venezia

The 20th International Festival of Contemporary Dance (part of La Biennale di Venezia 2026) ran from 17 July to 1 August 2026, directed by Wayne McGregor. The programme featured daily events with soloists and international companies as well as the activities of the Biennale College Danza dedicated to specific training projects.