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SUSCH
30.11 /01.12. 2019 at Muzeum Susch
WHO’S AFRAID OF (POLISH) CHOREOGRAPHY?
An extraordinary performance weekend within the frame of Culturescapes: Poland festival
The choreographic boom has reached Poland! Choreographers are in high demand – prestigious galleries, art centers, and especially theaters are calling out for a new generation. But for all the enthusiasm, and despite growing audiences and increased recognition, one can hardly beat the impression that the dynamically developing Polish choreography still remains strangely and surprisingly unseen in the mainstream cultural discourse (and internationally almost invisible). Might this be blamed to the fact, that rebellious by its nature, choreography simply refuses to belong to the mainstream? That it is discursive and political, referencing other disciplines, boldly inhabiting spaces in-between, celebrating diversity and freedom, constantly engaging in revealing and confronting naturalized and/or imposed ways of perceiving and experiencing the body and the world in order to create counter ways of seeing and being seen? And to resist oppressive images, ideas and ideologies? Is the factual economic censorship and lack of well-deserved presence in official circuits potentially due to the fact that this is an art form fiercely challenging both the artistic and social status quo as well as agendas of current micro- and macro-policies?
Since 15 years Art Stations Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk supports the development of contemporary choreography through its performative programme based in Poznań, recognized internationally under the name Old Brewery New Dance. It serves as platform for research, creation and choreographic (self)reflection bringing forward the art of choreography in dialogue with other disciplines, examining its history, theory and future, revisiting and interrogating its own artistic, but also political and social, content and contexts.
Joining the 15th anniversary celebrations, during two intense days Muzeum Susch hosted some of the most interesting Polish choreographers of last decade. The line-up of diverse choreographic positions- a set of presentations accompanied with Acziun Susch curator Joanna Leśnierowska’s introductions and artists’ talks/discussion - offered insights into a landscape of current contemporary experimental practice. And allowed us to reflect upon answers to the question ‘Who’s afraid of (Polish) choreography?’Are you?