Wrocław: Premiere of !GROT!

On 20 March (7 pm) the Polski Theatre in Wrocław (Świebodzki Train Station Stage, pl. Orląt Lwowskich 20c) is presenting the premiere of !GROT! byIrena Lipińska and her collaborators, Magdalena Zamorska (conception, dramaturgy) and Paweł Janicki (multimedia).

Książę Niezłomny (The Constant Prince) may be considered one of the most distinctive choreographic works conceived by Jerzy Grotowski in his “Theatre of Productions” period. Obviously, the authorship of the choreographic score may be disputable (Grotowski? Cieślak? A collaboration?), yet is it customary for critics and researchers to assign it to the director, that is Grotowski.

Contemporary dance theoreticians have been applying a broad understanding of the category of “choreography”. In her 2011 book titled Choreographing Empathy: Kinesthesia in Performance, Susan Leigh Fosterdescribed choreography as structuralising movement which, it is worth to stress, is not necessarily human. The objective of this project is to create a dance and performance event that reflects on how the image of Jerzy Grotowski functions and explore the practices applied in his theatre.

By means close examination and re-contextualisation of Książę Niezłomny, as well as deconstruction of the narrative on Grotowski as a person, the authors aim to problematise “forbidden” topics that are only marginally present in the critical discourse and artistic practice of artists who draw on the Grotowski theatre tradition. The authors are particularly interested in the master-student relationship, i.e. the relationship between Grotowski and Ryszard Cieślak. Was is based on dependence and addiction, projection and transference …?

The key focus lies on a mind enslaved by a blocked body; a mind that needs another body (to set itself free?). But the other body – the prosthesis – my prove dysfunctional, too. In the piece, new technologies “collaborating” with the performer stand in contrast to the poverty of Grotowski’s theatre, and thus highlight paradoxes that have been unnoticed or (un)consciously ignored so far. The use of technology generates a new form of the dancer/performer’s operations; it sheds a new light on movement discipline.

Lipińska/Zamorska/Janicki

CREDITS:
Director of actions, performer – Irena Lipińska
Conception – Irena Lipińska, Magdalena Zamorska
Multimedia – Paweł Janicki
Dramaturgy – Magdalena Zamorska
Lighting design – Wojciech Maniewski
Sound – Dominik Wojtas
Music – We Draw A
Graphic design – Paweł Pych
Project manager – Marcin Bogusławski
Teaser: editing and FX – Jakub Kozik
Duration : 60 minutes
Admission free
To make a booking, please call 888 111 034

Teaser

The project’s website:www.grotproject.pl