Art stations fundation - by Grażyna Kulczyk

It is the third time that we organize a cycle of improvisational evenings at MALTA, inviting the Festival audience to a series of Blind dates. Two years ago Michael Schumacher's improvisations with Polish musicians turned out to be one of the most important events observed on the MALTA dance scene. Last year we invited the audience to a series of original dance-and-sound duels between artists from Poland and Israel. In both of these cases we were witnesses of intimate meetings between musicians and dancers who have never before met and whose first-time joint performances were very likely to bring us a lot of surprises. Would they get on well? Would they have a good time together? Would they hit it off? What if there is completely no communication? This year we would like to make it a little different and ask our audience to directly participate in the show... Let it be a real blind date for them! On three different night shows which will constitute the cycle UNKNOWN, artists from the Warsaw Towarzystwo Prze-Twórcze will take you on a unrepeatable journey to the world of dance! Join us if you are opened for risks and ready to follow blindly wherever our artists lead you!

UNKNOWN is a series of improvisational spectacles / dance events involving interaction with the audience – with his eyes covered, the viewer can explore a world of his inner sensitivity – he is given a chance to be in the center of action and discover something new in watching / experiencing a dance spectacle.

What matters most for us is interaction. In our times, when dominated so much by the TV and film, we in the theater have still something unique and precious to offer – a possibility of making direct contact with the viewer, an invitation to actively experience theater art. In this interactive spirit, we invite the viewer to embark on an individual journey of self-exploration. We ask him to cover his eyes for, that way, it's easier to stay focused on the self. Limiting visual stimulation we can sharpen the remaining senses – hearing, smell, taste and touch. Being-self focused and more sensitive to the impulses received via non-visual channels, the viewer is firmly situated in the “here and now” – in improvisation. This is where he meets with the artists participating in the UNKNOWN project: dancers, musicians, visualization artists, who improvise the whole event having just a rough plan in their minds (prepared not earlier than a week before the show). Being “here and now” means having no fixed expectations, accepting things as they come, opening up to what we bring to the theater with us and what we find waiting for us there. Can this ever be possible? It is certainly a dialog which will never close, which requires both sides to be engaged – artists and viewers alike. Is there a place where the needs of both sides can meet?
Renata Piotrowska

Towarzystwo Prze-Twórcze (The Post-Creative Company) was set up by Renata Piotrowska in 2004. The collective gathers both professional and independent artists from Poland and abroad: choreographers, performers, fine artists and musicians. In their spectacles, happenings and performances, they search for communication between different domains of art. Exploring the field of contemporary dance and organizing workshops, classes and lectures, the group aims at creating a good climate for the development of contact improvisation in Poland.

www.piotrofska.art.pl