DANSE MACABRE

When the plague epidemic known as the “Black Death” was dying out in Europe in 1353, the people of the Old Continent faced unimaginable losses. The population was reduced by nearly 40%, and interpersonal relationships were marked by distrust and suspicion. With help came dance.
Its communal nature helped restore compassion and mutual trust, as well as renewed sense of one’s own body and the bodies of Others. In 2020, an incomparable pandemic brought the entire world to a halt. Subsequent waves of disease, sequential lockdowns, and fear of the unknown affected interpersonal relationships, shattering our habits. Regardless of one’s living situation, the pandemic became everyone’s issue. It reinforced social distrust of the other. It has increased bodily distance.

In her choreographic work, Renata Piotrowska-Auffret explores the movement and social dimension of Danse Macabre, focusing on the communal and bodily potential of continuous, purifying dance. A dance that soothes fears and offers the possibility of discovering joy, distance and group strength. It is not, however, about bringing back an old ritual but about creating a new one. It’s about allowing the artists and the audience to rediscover their own bodies “here and now” – in the Modelatornia space. To reject the fear of the Other and, above all, to identify isolation, loneliness and the inseparability of life from death as an experience common to all.

"THE HISTORY OF THE BODY IS THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY, FOR THERE IS NO CULTURAL PRACTICE THAT IS NOT PRIMARILY APPLIED TO THE BODY"

– SILVIA FEDERICI, „PRAISE OF THE DANCING BODY”.

Premiere

18th june 2021

Scene

Modelatornia

Duration

75 MINS (no interval)

suggested age

+16

Please note: strobe lights and loud music are used in the performance. There are also scenes of nudity.

UPCOMING EVENTS

10.05. / WEDNESDAY

7.30PM

12.05. / FRIDAY

9.00PM

09.09. / poniedziałek

19.00

“The victory of this choreographed performance is (…) the emerging desire to join in an intense, collaborative dance”.

Marcelina Obarska, culture.pl

“[…] the music is so rhythmic and regular, and the choreography is so spectacular and eye-catching that at times it is not so easy to control one’s own body”.

Kamil Bujny, Teatr dla wszystkich

„(…) potrafi rozśmieszyć, a nieraz też skłonić do refleksji. Działa jak dobrze skrojone kino gatunkowe, z rozwiązaniami z którymi teatr, moim zdaniem, mógłby częściej eksperymentować”.

Henryk Mazurkiewicz, teatralny.pl

Festiwale i nagrody

Spektakl bierze udział w 28. Ogólnopolskim Konkursie na Wystawienie Polskiej Sztuki Współczesnej.

Ogólnopolski Konkurs na Wystawienie Polskiej Sztuki Współczesnej ma na celu nagradzanie najciekawszych poszukiwań repertuarowych w polskim teatrze, wspomaganie rodzimej dramaturgii w jej scenicznych realizacjach oraz popularyzację polskiego dramatu współczesnego. Konkurs organizowany jest przez Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego oraz Instytut Teatralny im. Zbigniewa Raszewskiego w Warszawie.