Zawirowania Dance Theatre
Zawirowania Dance Theatre was founded in 2005. From its inception, the group’s artistic director and main choreographer has been Elwira Piorun, a former soloist of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw, who has performed in German ballet and dance theatres for several years. The group consists of dancers with various technical backgrounds, from classical dance, through contemporary and jazz dance, to pantomime. The combination of various backgrounds results in an interesting stage effect, widening the group’s creative potential. Włodzimierz Kaczkowski, director, often responsible for narration in the performances, collaborates with Zawirowania. The group’s main principle is to use contemporary dance techniques to create narrative performances. They call for a story in dance, more and more often rejected by dance theatres which prefer non-narrative and non-linear performances.
Zawirowania’s first premiere was Przytul mnie (2004) set to Astor Piazzola’s music. The performance was featured by dancers of the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. The following performance – Jeśli kochasz, zabij – was produced together with the Polish Dance Theatre in Poznań. Both choreographies were created by Elwira Piorun. The core of the theatre formed while working on Po godzinach (featured by Michał Piróg) and include such artists as Szymon Osiński, Bartek Figurski, Karolina Kroczak and Katarzyna Kizior. To date the theatre has produced eight premieres – apart from the already mentioned performances, these are group choreographies Po godzinach (2007) and Innocent when you dream (2009), as well as performances created in collaboration with Spanish artists. These are the Spanish part of Chopin ambiente (2009), choreography by Juan de Torres and Daniel Merlo from Larumbe Danza (choreography of the Polish part was created by Elwira Piorun) and Fuera de Campo (Poza kadrem, 2010), choreography by Daniel Abreu. The latest Zawirowania premiere, Tropiciele (2011) was produced by Karolina Kroczak, author of choreography and concept of the performance. It was produced in collaboration with Egurrola Dance Studio and features young dancers studying in the Studio.
The group has performed abroad many times (Crete, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia and Israel). The theatre runs educational activities – since last year it has been organizing year-round workshops, which conclude with performances of the young dancers.
Since 2005 the Theatre has organized the Zawirowania Dance Theatre Festival, taking place each June. This event gathers dance theatres from Poland and abroad, including those from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Israel.
For over two years, on the first Sunday of the month, Zawirowania presents in Warsaw dance performances from Poland (sometimes also from abroad) at “Spotkania z Teatrem Tańca” (Meeting Dance Theatre) cycle, taking place at the Włochy Community Centre (Performance Hall). The aim of this regular review is to present to the audience as wide range of contemporary dance productions as possible.
