Schumacher / Dominik Strycharski
25.06 / 21:00 / Studio Słodownia +3
Schumacher / Mikołaj Trzaska
26.06 / 21:00 / Susznia
Schumacher / Bartłomiej i Marcin Oleś
27.06 21:00 / Pasaż - Szachownica
Come and see what happens when one of the world's best improvisation artists goes on three blind dates with the most interesting Polish musicians!
The matches look very promising - there's even a threesome!
But as with every blind date you never know what to expect. Will they like each other? Will they find each other attractive? Will there be any chemistry between them? Will they manage to get things going? And what if the dialogue won't work?
Despite all these questions the artists took up the challenge and let us be a matchmaker. As a result, you will see three unique improvised performances, each happening in a different place of Stary Browar. Things can get pretty interesting when the energy of one of the world's finest dance improvisers will be combined with the music of Poland's most exceptional artists.
Improvising with movement, sound, text, and light in a performance is very much like navigating through one's daily routine... Leaving the house, traveling through the city, meeting a friend, looking for food, eating a meal together, and then find my way back home again... this is how I practice creating real-time compositions.
Working with artists of different disciplines is both challenging and liberating. Exploring what I do not know is the way in which I acknowledge the information that I have already gathered.
When I am creatively engaged in the moment, it is like surfing the wave between my experience and my ambition. It's always a wild ride!
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher began dancing in musical theatre productions in his hometown of Lewiston, Idaho. After moving to New York, he received a B.F.A. in Dance from the Juilliard School. He currently resides in Amsterdam.
He has been a member of Ballet Frankfurt, Twyla Tharp Dance,
the Feld Ballet, and the Pretty Ugly Dance Company. As a choreographer Schumacher has twice collaborated with the dancers of Ballet Frankfurt, creating Splendor Shed (1990) and many other artists (like Daniela Graça, Marcelo Evelin, and Anat Geiger); for NDT III, he conceived and directed The Moment (2001).
A leading figure in the discipline of improvisation, he continues to perform with Amsterdam's Magpie Music Dance Company and conducts workshops in movement analysis and improvisation techniques worldwide. We could see him in Poznan in STAU by Anouk van Dijk (2004) and in February 2007 Michael was again guest of Stary Browar with the coaching project on improvisation/real-time composition.
Mikołaj Trzaska he started to play alt saxophone and bass clarinet, but in fact is now real multi-instrumentalist. He dropped studies at Fine Arts Academy in Gdansk and in 1986 joined Tymon Tymanski group. Then he co-funded Miłość (LOVE) group - one of the most interesting band in Polish jazz of 80s and 90s. He collaborated then with Leszk Możdżer, Maciej Sikała, Jacek Olter, Jerzy Mazzoll, Tomasz Gwińciński as well as with Tomasz Stańsko and Lester Bowie. Miłość released 5 albums. Trzaska was involved also in many other projects in Poland and abroad; in 2001, together with his wife, he established Kilogram Records. In 2005 he went for one of his dreams - he started to work with Peter Brötzmann and joined the North Quartet.
Dominik Strycharski, composer, singer, improviser, performer and journalist. Since 2001 he is a member and co-founder of Bretoncaffe Theatre. With his own band Pulsarus he plays (electric flutes) and performs jazz in different ways - also improvised. He also established DOMINISTRY - a multileveled solo project combined of contemporary electric music, performance art and electro-ambient and an audiovisual project called Rhplus (improvisation/video art/performance). He loves to explore each kind of music that is why his experience includes film, dance, theatre, video arts, photography and exhibitions. He also teaches voice improvisation and non-conventional singing techniques.
Marcin Oleś, jazz contrabass player and composer; one of the most active, interesting and approved both by critics and audience artists of Polish jazz scene. His music gained a lot of awards and was recorded many times. He collaborates on regular basis with his twin brother and widely with many artists from all over the world. He co-founded groups Oleś|Trzaska|Oleś and Oleś|Jorgensmann|Oleś. He composed also music for theatre performances ( Słowacki Theatre in Cracow, TV Theatre).
Bartlomiej Brother Oleś, percussion player and composer; together with his brother he is one of the most active and creative artists of Polish jazz scene. He collaborates with many musicians in Poland and abroad; he is a co-author of music for theatre shows of TV Theatre, Słowacki Theatre, Witkacy theatre in Zakopane and Współczesny theatrein Wroclaw; he is a member of bands Oleś/Trzaska/Oleś, Oleś/Jrgensmann/Oleś, Chamber Quintet, Contemporary Quartet, Custom Trio, Oleś/Pieronczyk/Oleś.