Renata Piotrowska „Wspólne”. Fot. Marta Ankiersztejn.
On Monday 6 June 2016 at 8 pm, Bonum House centre (19 Augustówka St.) will host the opening performance of the 12th Zawirowania International Dance Theatre Festival. In her performance Alpha ? the New Wilderness, choreographer Pia Meuthen presents an insightful, satirical picture of the desire for power. Using a careful analysis of body language, the performance reveals the similarities between the worlds of monkey and of big fish in suits. The Dutch company Panama Pictures creates works on the border of dance and circus, smoothly combining the two disciplines.
The next festival performances will take place from 21?26 June 2016. This year, only one non-European company will appear, the Art Lab J from Detroit, United States. The programme also features dance theatres from Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Hungary and Israel (co-production with Zawirowania). All the performances share the awareness of a crisis much deeper than just a financial crisis. It is a crisis of values, and after the failure of all sorts of utopias, there seems to be no way out. Everywhere, extreme individualism and liberalism provoke conservative reactions which seem to exclude the current ways of thinking. Everyone knows that Europe?s openness to other cultures has come to its limits and that simple solutions do not work. This has an individual and artistic dimension. So far, the principle was to explore one?s borders, and transgressing them was a proof of freedom; now, we are slowly realising it is necessary to adjust to certain rules. But who is to set the rules and to define their meaning? Here, total uncertainty and chaos rule.
The title of one of the performances, Where Should We Go?, could be the title of most of the shows in this year?s programme. This question is relevant for both societies and individuals, including the artists. Because nothing is certain: a corporation may become a stage of rivalry for the status of alpha male (Panama Pictures); the city of Detroit may be a myth, a dream that turns into a desert due to the crisis (Art Lab J); Kaspar Hauser is learning about civilization that will become his curse (Cie La Pharmaco from Spain); love for another person clashes with egoism and the need of independence (Cie Abreu from Spain and Francesco Selva Dance Company from Italy); culture keeps destroying the nature and there is not return to the old ways of living (Art Garage from Italy); humans increasingly resemble zombies driven solely by the urge to destroy (Ferenc Feher from Hungary).
For the time being, if you ask, ?Where should we go??, we reply, ?Come visit us, we?ll see?.
More about Alpha ? the New Wilderness
Festival programme, performance descriptions and trailers are available at www.zawirowania.com
