The Roots of Dance – Jacek Luminski & Kofago Dance Ensemble

Final showcase will be presented on May 14 at Gibney Dance. 
Final Showcase, May 14, 2022 at 2 PM ET
Gibney Dance
280 Broadway, Studio H
New York, NY 10007
Free  

The Roots of Dance / Korzenie tańca is a multicultural artistic project for dancers and choreographers. It is about stimulating creativity by going back to the roots of cultures, looking for inspiration for the development of contemporary dance and enriching the world’s dance culture. Traditional Polish culture is the springboard serving to jumpstart the exploration of these processes. The project includes participants from all backgrounds including but not limited to South Asian, African, European and Indigenous forms. The participants will learn about elements popular in traditional Polish music and dance, for example: apocope, syncopation and tempo rubato and will look for similarities in their own cultures. Inspired by this, they will delve deeper into their own traditions to develop new contemporary choreographies. 

This year marks the third edition of the project, which includes journeys to:        

– New York: May 6-16
– Zagreb: June 8-12 
– Tbilisi: June 12-18
– Kuala Lumpur: August 8-19
– Kolkata: September 10-19
– Poland – Festival (10 days of workshops) – September 21-October 3

– I am delighted the Roots of Dance / Korzenie tańca project has been picked up again, enabling us to share traditional and contemporary Polish culture around the world. I am curious as to how dancers and choreographers from other cultural backgrounds will react to Polish culture, and what we will learn from them in the process. It all promises to be a fascinating artistic adventure that will add to the international dance culture! – says the initiator of the project, Aleksandra Dziurosz, Ph. D. 

The Roots of Dance / Korzenie tańca will finish at the end of 2022. The project will be capped by a documentary film.

The list of project partners spans a number of art schools and dance companies, including the Department of Dance at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice,  Arts Research Institute w Tbilisi (Georgia), Moving Borders w Mérida (Mexico), The Dance Centre in Vancouver (Canada), TRAFIK dance / theatre company and Croatian Institute for Dance and Movement in Zagreb (Croatia), Kofago Dance Ensemble in New York (USA), Sapphire Creations Dance Company in Kolkata (India), Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou (China), ASK Dance Company in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), as well as several diplomatic missions, including the Polish Institute in Tbilisi (Georgia), Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Mexico City (Mexico), Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Vancouver (Canada), Polish Institute in New York (USA), and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the “Inspiring Culture” program.

Workshop Leaders: 

Jacek Luminski is an internationally-acknowledged contemporary dancer and choreographer, and is Adjunct Professor and Head of the Dance Division at the Academy of Music in Katowice, and professor at the Beijing Dance Academy, China. In this workshop he is joined by Angelika Karal, dancer and choreographer with significant experience of working across Poland and internationally; Professor Aleksandra Dziurosz, PhD, dancer, choreographer, teacher, former Deputy Director of the National Institute of Music and Dance and a professor at the UMFC in Warsaw; and Mateusz Czekaj, Coordinator of The Roots of Dance and international projects at the National Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw, and a dancer and lecturer. 

More details

About National Institute of Music and Dance

The National Institute of Music and Dance implements creative, publishing, academic and scholarship projects. It sets new standards for cooperation between artists and institutions. The Institute runs a number of projects, including the Oskar Kolberg Award for Merits to Folk Culture; Spaces of Art; Coryphaeus of Polish Music, PolandDances; International Competition of Polish Music. Every day, the Institute’s team ensures the growth of Polish musicians and dancers and provides them with opportunities to showcase their achievements in Poland and abroad. All of the Institute’s operations are financed within the framework of the grant awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Media contact:
Agata Szymczak (agata.szymczak@nimit.pl, + 48 785 310 000)