THE SPECTACLE by Polski Tetar Tanca

Premiere: May 20th, 2025

Location: Castell Sant´Angelo, Rome, Italy

CREDITS:

Concept: Vanessa Gajda

Dancers: Alex Montecchiani, Patryk Sojka and local dancers

Production team: Polski Teatr Tańca

Neither here nor there – transition, threshold, connector, chaos, instability, darkness, passivity, crossing, suspension, invisibility, surrender, thrust, trance, impossibility, flaccidity, hermaphroditism, transformation, something in between – Liminality. Coined by Arnold van Gennep, the term refers to “in-between” activities and behaviors, such as rites of passage.

We view our Dancing Histories project as an anthropological experience that allows us to experience both place and people. The whole process is a kind of rite of passage, involving three stages: the moment of separation, or departure from everyday life; the phase of liminality, in which we enter the unknown, explore, create and experience; and then return to reality, already as changed people. This journey, though artistic, is also a transformation on a personal and collective level.

For us, our project is a living anthropological experiment based on concepts such as communitas, sacrum, profanum and the liminal sphere. Breaking these down, we understand the profane as the space of action for dancers, performers and spectators, the sacred as the chosen space of St. Angelo’s Castle, the sounds of the organ music we want to use, and the art around us. The liminal sphere becomes the space of dance – a link between the sacred and the profane, but also a rite of passage that will organically take shape in the course of our work. An important aspect of

An important aspect will also be communitas – the meeting of people in a random but meaningful context, which leads to the creation of unity and reciprocity between the participants of the experience.

The most significant object of our search is “something in between” – that which cannot be clearly defined, captured, enclosed in a rigid framework. The dramaturgy of the project will stem from the ceremony of transition that will be born during our residency. As we work, we will ask ourselves questions that will allow us to explore the transness of what we will create: about the meaning of our ritual, the goal we are pursuing, and the transformation that will take place in ourselves as performers. We will consider what happens between the sacred and the profane, what the sacred is for us in general and what role it plays in our process. These are just some of the issues that will emerge and shape our journey over time. The collective creative process will involve taking both the individual and the group from one state to another, from one form of existence to a new one.

VANESSA GAJDA

Vanessa Gajda is a dancer and performer, currently a student at the Department of Dance at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. A graduate of St. Brother Albert High School with a dance and theatre profile in Krakow. She has participated in numerous Art Color Ballet projects under the direction of Agnieszka Glińska. She has danced in performances by Przestrzeń Sztuki Katowice, such as “Autentyki” choreographed by Bartłomiej Mieszczak and “Ze snu wyłowię złoty płaszcz (Imponderabilia z podwórka)” by Łukasz Zgórka. She has collaborated with choreographers such as Aleksander Kopański, Agata Jędrzejczak, Krystian Łysoń and Ryszard Kalinowski. She specializes in physical dance, floorwork and improvisation. In her dance explorations, she focuses on exploring the themes of sensuality and authenticity in dance.

DANCERS

ALEX MONTECCHIANI

Alex Montecchiani is a contemporary dancer originally from Italy. He is into language learning and teaching as well. He’s a theatre practitioner since childhood. At 19 he started his life abroad and lived in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Hungary, China, Georgia and he is currently in Türkiye. He had his first bachelor degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures, terminated with an original research in the field of linguistics, acoustics and perception. After that he had a second bachelor degree in Actor of the Dance Theatre from the Academy of Music of Katowice. He had the chance to get a semester of dance education in the Hangzhou, at the Conservatory of Zhejiang, specialising in folk dances. In addition it’s worth mentioning his 2 months internship in Untitled Art Gallery of Tbilisi, the work with Porter Collective “Daleko, daleko…” and the performance created for himself and his father and then performed at the stairs of Corinaldo.

PATRYK SOJKA

Patryk Sojka is a b-boy associated with hip-hop culture since the age of 4. In addition to dancing, he is interested in theater and cinema. His love for dance and acting is combined and developed at Academy of Theatre Arts, Department of Dance Theatre. Throughout his professional path, he has performed both in theater and in films and TV series.

Artistic achievements: Plotka | Miejski Theater in Gliwice, directed by Cezary Iber; Ferdydurke. Ćwiczenia | The Silesian Theater Acting School, directed by Michał Piotrowski; Lekker | Academy of Theatre Arts, Department of Dance Theatre, directed by Marika Kornacka; Cukierku, Ty Łobuzie | Teatr Gry i Ludzie, directed by Michał Piotrowski; Performance at the United Arts Festival in Domanice in 2023 and 2024.