Play It, So 17 Dances About Something

The Play

It’s 2044. Janina, Jan and Janka start working on an experimental documentary. In one of the rooms of a well-maintained museum theater, while making use of some former technologies (MacBookPro, overhead projector, etc.), costumes (Milan Fashion Week, 2013) and emotions (early twenty-first century cinema, dance, theater), Janina, Jan and Janka try to play out that SOMETHING that was the THING.

Directors’ Note

In 2012, with a symbolic show Celebration so the end and Once Again, we closed two decades of the existence of Dada Theatre. With the performance , Play it, So 17 Dances About Something,  we’re going to enter a new Dada Epoch, by loosening the shackles binding all artistic creation of such a long-lived form. Please let us not reveal the inspiration and intentions that accompanied us while working on Play it. The inspiration and intentions are, in fact subject to constant evolution until the premiere day. To those impatient, we can offer a short note announcing the show. However, we cannot resist not mentioning that we’re approaching 100th anniversary of the first emanation of Dada (Zürich 1916). Hence, once again we would like to publicly confess our belief that, since that memorable event, everything has only been as it is, and can no longer be any different. Play It, So 17 Dances About Something, is a collective brainchild of three Dada artists: Anna Steller, Katarzyna Chmielewska and Leszek Bzdyl, the co-founders of this one of a kind and legendary Theatre.

The Directors

Leszek Bzdyl – A dancer, actor, choreographer, director as well as founder and artistic director of Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre, he has been involved in a professional stage career since 1987. He graduated from Department of Philosophy and History, University of Wrocław, in 1990 and founded Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre in 1993 with Katarzyna Chmielewska. He has been awarded by the Minister of National Education (1999), the Marshal of the Pomerania Region (2006) and Theatre Pasta International Theatre Awards – India (2007) for his artistic achievements. In 2010, he was conferred with a ‘Meritorious for Polish Culture’ medal, by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

 Katarzyna Chmielewska – A dancer, choreographer, director, dance teacher as well as founder & artistic director of Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre, Katarzyna graduated from the State Ballet School in Gdańsk (1984-1993), following which she studied at P.A.R.T.S in Brussels (1996-1997). She has been involved with numerous Polish cultural institutions e.g.: the Ballet Group of the Baltic State Opera House, Gdańsk (1993-1994), Gdańsk Dance Theatre (1994-1995), City Theatre, Gdynia (1997-2000), Klub Żak, Gdańsk (2000-2008) and Wybrzeże Theatre, Gdańsk (2008-present). She has been awarded by the Mayor of Gdańsk and the Marshal of the Pomerania Region for outstanding and lifetime artistic achievement.

Anna Steller – A dancer, performer and choreographer, Anna has been an actress and dancer in Dada von Bzdűlőw Theatre, since 2003. Since 2004, she has been performing with ‘Read My LipsTheatre’. In 2005, she co-established ‘Good Girl Killer’ collective. She is a proud recipient of the Dance Web Scholarship for the 2003 Impulstanz dance workshops and festival in Vienna. In 2012, Steller was awarded by the Marshal of the Pomerania Region for her outstanding achievement in the field of dance and theatre.

The Group

Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre is an independent group of professional dancers and actors staging performances, in cooperation with home and foreign cultural institutions, such as: Teatr Wybrzeże, Gdańsk,  Klub Żak, Gdańsk,  Dance Advance, Philadelphia, USA, Les Hivernales, Avignon, France, Old Brewery,/Poznań and Teatr Nowy, Łódź; Nuova Foundation, Poznań. Since 2008, it is affiliated with Teatr Wybrzeże, Gdańsk, and has been regularly staging all its premiere & repertoire performances there. As of today, Dada has produced more than 45 performances, some of its productions are, Play it, so 17 dances about something, Enclave 4/7, Invisible Duets, Le Sacre, Caffè Lattè and Red Grass.

Directed, Choreographed by:
 Katarzyna Chmielewska, Anna Steller, Leszek Bzdyl