“The Ignorant Choreographer”
20–23 September 2025 | JK Opole Theatre

Playing with the title of Jacques Rancière’s famous essay The Ignorant Schoolmaster, Greek choreographer and performer Chara Kotsali invites professional dance and movement artists to take part in a four-day intensive choreographic laboratory during the Opole Dance Stage 2025.

Guided by questions such as:

• Is there a method to creating choreography

• Is the concept more important than the desire to simply create?

• Are there rules in the creative process worth breaking?

— we will immerse ourselves in a process rooted in imagination, emotion, embodied knowledge, and the magic of creative action. Challenging the idea of the choreographer as an individual genius and resisting the exoticization of the performing body, we will search for a creative process that is inclusive, sensual, engaged, and poetic.

During the laboratory, we will:

• Create a collective piece through movement, writing, conversation, listening, and imagination

• Work based on our own experiences, inspirations, and personal movement scores

• Explore new strategies in choreography and movement composition together

• Conclude the process with an open work-in-progress showing

Laboratory language: English
Level: This open call is intended for professional artists with experience in dance, choreography, performance, theatre, or other forms of physical expression and movement composition.

Participation is free of charge.
JK Opole Theatre provides accommodation (19–23 September) and free access to all Opole Dance Stage events.
Travel arrangements are the participants’ responsibility.

Recruitment:
Applications must be submitted in English via the form available below ⤵
Deadline for applications: [date].
Participants will be selected by Chara Kotsali and the festival curator – Janusz Orlik. By submitting the application, all selected participants confirm their attendance on all days of the laboratory.