Calendar of the upcoming “Somatopia” shows choreographed by K.J. Holmes:
RSVP August 4, 6 PM EDT preview – Hudson Opera House (Hudson, NY, USA)
August 5, 5 PM EDT preview – The Dragons Egg (Ledyard, CT, USA)
RSVP August 6, 7 PM EDT American premiere – Churchtown Dairy (Hudson, NY, USA)
RSVP August 7, 7 PM EDT performance – Churchtown Dairy (Hudson, NY, USA)
August 13, 7 PM CET Polish premiere – Silesian Theatre, Gallery Stage (Katowice, Poland)
August 14, 7 PM CET performance – Silesian Theatre, Gallery Stage, (Katowice, Poland)
A dance/theater performance
by the Living Space Theatre
Choreography, creation and direction by K.J. Holmes
in collaboration with the artists: Aneta Jankowska, Grzegorz Labuda, Jakub Margosiak
Soma is defined as the body as well as the imagination within the body. Utopia is described as “no place” yet also “a field.” If our bones hold our history, where do we find our next direction? In this strange time of pandemic re-emergence, are we moving back into what we knew or forward into other futures? Perhaps it is in a suspension of time, in our dreams, in that place of no place, a field…
Performance sponsored by: The National Institute of Music and Dance as part of the Choreographic Orders 2021 program financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland and The City of Katowice, Poland. Co-produced by: The Polish Cultural Institute New York. Supported by: The Actors’ Ensemble, Chatham, NY.
About Living Space Theatre
Living Space Theatre is a nomadic theatre founded in 2016 by artists who graduated from the Dance Theatre Department of National Theatre Academy in Cracow (Poland). In our works, we combine movement, dance, and acting focused on the physical body and imagination. Through our performances, we hope to raise a voice about current social issues, tolerance, and human rights. For more information visit: www.livingspacetheatre.com
K.J. HOLMES
K.J. Holmes, a Brooklyn based danceartist/actor/singer/writer, travels nationally and internationally teaching/performing/creating. K.J. has been exploring improvisation as process and performance since 1981. She has collaborated extensively with Julie Carr, Simone Fort, Karen Nelson, Lisa Nelson and Image Lab, Steve Paxton; has performed in the work of Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, Xavier Le Roy, Lance Gries, Mark Dendy, Melinda Ring, Karinne Keithley Syers, among many others; performs in Matthew Barney’s new film Redoubt; collaborates with drummer Jeremy Carlstedt in L.I.P. (Love Is Power, MLKjr.); teaches at NYU/ETW, and Movement Research; completed the School for Body Mind Centering(r), William Esper Studio (Meisner acting with master teacher Terry Knickerbocker),Satya Yoga (with Sondra Loring) and is currently becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner (Ayurveda’s World). K.J. is devising a new piece titled 900 Bees Are Humming, a multi disciplinary work exploring death, life and transformation. Her work has been presented by many venues including The Chocolate Factory, PS122, Danspace Project, Mana Contemporary Chicago, The Belfry, Chashama, Dixon Place. For more information visit: www.kjholmes.info
GRZEGORZ ŁABUDA
Founder of the Living Space Theatre, actor, dancer. Fulbright Graduate Student Award in 2021. Graduate of the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Bytom. Scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for outstanding artistic achievements. Laureate of national and international competitions. He completed the Master Course at the Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards Workcenter in Pontedera. He works with Chekhov’s technique, constantly studies at the Michael Chekhov School of Acting in Hudson, NY, under the supervision of Ted Pugh, Fern Sloan and Ragnar Freidank. He has collaborated with many artists and theaters in Poland and abroad. He led, among others acting workshops as part of the Busan International Performing Arts Festival in Korea, theater workshops as part of the Arts Club at BWA Gallery in Katowice, workshops and lectures during the 5th Dance Symposium as part of the International Theater Congress in Spain, a series of dance and movement workshops as part of the educational project “To art ready to start! ” organized by the BWA Contemporary Art Gallery in Katowice and many others. Participant of the research project “Joy of discovery” as part of the 1st and 2nd CEEC-China Summer Dance Camp in China. Co-creator and author of many projects and performances. He has been associated with the Living Space Theater since its inception.
JAKUB MARGOSIAK
Founder of the Living Space Theatre, director, actor, dancer. A graduate of the Acting Department of the PWST in Krakow and a freelance student at the Department of Dance Theater in Bytom. PhD student at the Film School in Łódź. Awarded Fulbright Scholarship for 7-months research about Michael Chekhov technique in the U.S. Scholarship holder of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship and the President of the City of Tarnow and the City of Tarnow. He conducted workshops and gave a lecture at the 35th International Theater Institute World Congress in Segovia (Spain). He took part in the International Summer Program organized by Robert Wilson at the Watermill Center in New York and in the artistic residency as part of the AgitAgueda Festival in Portugal. He completed the Immersion Course at Michael Chekhov School in New York. He created his own projects: the dance theater performance “Kaj dzias” (premiere at the International Festival of Dance Theaters, Open Stage in Tarnów), “The Room of the Senses”, “Concept Privat” (Main Prize and Jury Prize at the International Festival of Dance Theaters, Open Stage in the Make Move competition) and many others.
ANETA JANKOWSKA
Dancer, improvisator, choreographer and dance teacher. A graduate of the G. & K. Bacewicz Academy of Music in Lodz, on the Faculty of Choreography & Dance Techniques and a graduate of Culture Animation, Major in Contemporary Dance from Public College for Culture Animators in Kalisz where she performed with the ‘Studnia’ group. She completed the program of 60 days of improvisation with David Zambrano. She participated in coaching with Wim Vandekeybus “Twin-connection between dancing and acting”. Coaching participant with Sławek Krawczyński and Anna Godowska devoted to work in the body of dreams process. From 2009 to 2016 she was a dancer in one of the most renowned dance groups in Poland – the ‘Physical Studio’ in Lodz led by Jacek Owczarek. She performed in: “Debris Afloat” by Paraskevas Terezakis, “Nius” by Krzysztof Skolimowski, “Whisper in my eyes” by Małgorzata Haduch and “Silence” by Izabela Chlewińska. She has collaborated with distinguished directors such as: Marcin Wierzchowski, Katarzyna Minkowska, Piotr Trzaskalski, Piotr Ratajczak, Mateusz Bednarkiewicz, Marek Zakostelecky, Jakub Krofta, Daria Kopiec, Hubert Patynowski, Łukasz Gajdzis, Paweł Łysak, Paweł Wodziński and others.
“I have not seen a place of pilgrimage or an abode of bliss like my body.
Yet, curious indeed it is, that we generally roam about in the whole world in search of it.” (Dasgupta)
Calendar of the upcoming “Somatopia” shows choreographed by K.J. Holmes:
August 4th, 6.00 p.m. preview – Hudson Opera House (Hudson, NY, USA)
August 5th, 5 p.m. preview – The Dragons Egg (Ledyard, CT, USA)
RSVP August 6th, 7 p.m. American premiere – Churchtown Dairy (Hudson, NY, USA)
RSVP August 7th, 7 p.m. performance – Churchtown Dairy (Hudson, NY, USA)
August 13th, 7 p.m. Polish premiere – Silesian Theatre, Gallery Stage (Katowice, Poland)
August 14th, 7 p.m. performance – Silesian Theatre, Gallery Stage, (Katowice, Poland)