Theatrical meditation number 4

DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT: 

"There is this idefinite difference between the outside of a human being and their inside just as it is between heaven and earth. 

When I constituted my first reason I didn’t have any God, I was my own reason. And there was nobody to ask me where I was heading for and what I was doing; there was nobody. Myself was what I wanted, and what I had become was what I wanted; I was free from God and anything else. 

When I left (when I flowed down) all the creatures were talking about God. If somebody asked me: - brother Eckart, when did you leave the house? - I was there, that was not the moment; I was there myself, I wanted my own self and I knew myself to be able to become a man (that I have become here on earth). And that is why I do exist unborn and in this mode of being unborn I cannot die. And what I am because of my birth shall die and be extinct, because it is entrusted to time and will decompose with it. However, along with my birth all the other creatures were born. All of them feel the need to be elevated from their existence to their essence. 

Upon my return this break is far more noble than my departure. In that break I am above the creatures, neither a God, nor the creature. Yet I am the one whom I used to be and whom I should be now and remain forever. Upon my arrival nobody asks where I come from. I am what I used to be, neither do I grow, nor get smaller, as I am the unmoved cause and puts all the creatures into motion.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTISTS: 

Krzysztof Garbaczewski - born in 1983 in Białystok. Theatre director, and set designer, known for his elaborate sets and innovative adaptations, serving as the basis of his so-called theatre installations, which combine performance, visual arts and music. His trademark collage/syncretic style, the use of video projections and live transmissions are related to our contemporary cyber-sensibility. Garbaczewski’s spectacles address the most important existential matters and search for critical, liminal experiences. He employs disillusionment, remarkable stage collages with respect to the fragments of contemporary world, media and culture. On many occasions his performances are in the form of theatrical meditations playing with the viewer's mind. The director stages unobvious juxtapositions. He also confronts the question of contemporary Polish identity. A graduate of the Faculty of Theatre Directing and Dramaturgy at the Ludwik Solski State Theatre School in Cracow. Honoured with numerous awards, such as the “Passport” award of Polityka weekly. Krystian Lupa’s assistant in "Factory 2" at the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theatre in Cracow (2008). He debuted with Elfriede Jelinek’s "A Sport Play" in Opole (2008). His adaptations include "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" (Polski Theatre in Wrocław, 2009) and "Kronos" by Witold Gombrowicz (Polski Theatre in Wrocław, 2013). Director of the spectacles "Odyssey" (Jan Kochanowski Theatre in Opole, 2009), "The Sexual Life of Savages" (Nowy Teatr in Warsaw, 2011), "The Death Star" (Jerzy Szaniawski Dramatic Theatre in Wałbrzych, 2010), "Balladyna" (Polish Theatre in Poznań, 2013) and "The Sky of Stone Instead of Stars" (Nowy Teatr in Warsaw, 2013). Often collaborates with Aleksandra Wasilkowska on stage design and Marcin Cecko on dramaturgy. Garbaczewski also staged "Victory Over the Sun" (Grand Theatre – National Opera, 2014), "The Tempest" (Polski Theatre in Wrocław, 2015) and "Hamlet" (Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theatre in Cracow, 2015). In June 2016 Garbaczewski directed "Robert Robur" based on an unfinished novel by Mirosław Nahacz "Robert Robur's Incredible Adventures" / "Niezwykłe przygody Roberta Robura", published two years after the author's death. Garbaczewski transfers dystopian reality, created by the writer to the world of media and virtual reality. In 2016 Garbaczewski staged "Feast" (Nowy Teatr in Warsaw). In 2017 he directed Plato’s "Symposium" at Nowy Theatre in Warsaw, Reymont’s "The Pheasants" at Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw, and Wyspański’s "Liberation" at Studio Theatre in Warsaw. In 2018 he directed "Nietota" and "New Territory" at Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw. He also directed  "Miron Białoszewski / Allen Ginsberg VR" in New York at The Performing Garage. In 2018 he also initiated an artistic collective Dream Adoption Society, an artistic collective based in Warsaw, focused on virtual and augmented reality in the context of theater, performance and contemporary art, exploring new technologies to create immersive, performative experiences. 

Tomasz Bazan - dancer and choreographer born in 1982, author of his own original performances, founder and director of Maat Projekt Theatre. He is one of the versatile, active performative artists of the young generation. He combines an intense mastery of various movement techniques with literary erudition and theoretical awareness, which makes him not only a recognizable figure in the theatre and dance milieu, but also an influential animator of various artistic events. He graduated in Cultural Studies at the Maria Skłodowska Curie University in Lublin (specialization: critique and animation of visual arts events). For a year, he has been a student of Jean Marco, French painter and stage designer. He studied dance and movement techniques under renowned dancers and martial art masters, like Nam Hai Bui Ngoc, Yuri Pstrovski, Witold Jurewicz, Monika Tachman, Shizamitu Tienn, Łukasz Maziarczyk, Gabriell Daris, Atsushi Takenouchi, Sylwia Hanff. For years, he has studied and practices Asian martial-arts styles; he specializes in Lang and Vietnam Dao styles. His experience in theatre spans years - he collaborated with the Gardzienice Centre For Theatre Practices, Chorea Theatre Association, International Theatre Art of Now, Compagne le Sablier, Les Kurbas Theatre in Lviv, Dance Art Now in London and the Great Theatre in Warsaw. Aside from his own performances, he collaborates with distinguished theatre directors and actors - but it is widely understood that dance remains the main current of his activity. Since 2004, he has been directing the Maat Projekt Theatre, which is considered one of the most significant dance collectives in Poland. From 2009 Bazan has been the founder and curator of the International Experimental Dance and Movement Festival MAAT FESTIVAL which is to present the newest performances by the exceptional dancers. In the theatre he applies his own programme of physical training and cultural pursuits. The artistic phenomenon of Bazan's theatre stems from a special combination of physical techniques with a pursuit of individual emotional expression. In group's performances, "intuitive dance" coexists with "searching an European context for Japanese butoh". The Maat Theatre, present at international festivals, continues an interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue. Over the years, the formation created a number of projects including plays, happenings, collective installations, performances presented in prestigious venues in Poland and abroad, eg. in Germany, USA, Norway, France, Slovenia, UK, Belgium and Israel. Bodily expression's leading role is usually balanced in Bazan's works with erudite literary inspiration. Plays he created were based on themes from the works of Goethe, Beckett, Pinter, Kane, Białoszewski. Apart from that, one can notice an inspiration with Russian folklore and Orthodox spirituality, as well as returning echoes of the Holocaust and contemporary philosophy and popular culture references. Bazan as a dancer and choreographer was a resident of the Art Stations Kulczyk Foundation (2008). He also received a lifetime achievement award from the President of the City of Lublin and Żuraw 2009 in the Baltic Movement Contest and the Golden Mask in 2012 for directing "I Ifigenia" at Nowy Theatre in Łódź. Since 2012, Bazan has benn one of the closest of Krzysztof Garbaczewski's co-workers, and he performed eg. In Garbaczwski's "Stone Heaven instead of Stars" made as a co-production of the Museum of Warsaw Uprising and Nowy Theatre in Warsaw. He is a member of an interdisciplinary Kunst Gillian Gallery in Berlin, who granted him an award in 2010 for an outstanding stage personality. Since 2013 he has also been a member of the board of curators of the interdisciplinary project Context bodies in Tel Aviv.

LINKS:

• https://dreamadoptionsociety.com