Dancing Together, Again! Creative Residencies Programme

I remember: Toni's birthday party almost immediately after arriving. A bunch of people, some I know, and some entirely new dancing in front of the Student Centre. Soplica. Life bursting. Satisfying exhaustion. Lots of creativity, energies, ideas, some familiar, some completely new. Big, beautiful but somewhat cold city. Impressive and unfamiliar. Enjoying walking its huge streets. Resetting, recharging, rethinking, redancing. Again. I remember: rehearsals, a chair placed in the window at the Ballet School, two days of final productions, more impressions than I can hold, deciding to let it go, lingering with what stays in naturally. Somehow feeling like returning to some familiar but completely new ground, travelling through a movement of thought that finally danced into consciousness. By Josipa Bubaš

Re-connecting in final residency in Warsaw It was a great opportunity for me to be a part of dance residency EU Project "Dancing together again" and to connect to other colleagues from participating countries, first in Napoli, then finally meeting all colleagues in Warsaw who have participated in previous residencies in Tbilisi, Rijeka and Napoli. I am very grateful to be able to participate in this project as the residencies were a rare opportunity for me to be able to focus only on dance artistic process, without needing to take care of other everyday duties. The weather in Warsaw was much cooler than in my hometown Zagreb during summer, which I really liked. However, this time it affected me in such a way that after the first few days of residency I got sick with a high fever and was forced to spend a few days in my room before I recovered. This unexpected situation allowed me enough space to process all the new information about first impressions of Warsaw residency on ...

Doll house In the grand tapestry of human experience, we are all in search of something. For some, it's a sense of purpose, for others, it’s love or success. But underneath it all, there lies a universal desire: the need to find where we belong—a place that feels like home, where we fit in perfectly, where we are accepted and understood. This journey to finding our place can often feel like being trapped inside a box, one that both defines and confines us. Imagine life as a dollhouse. Each room represents a different aspect of society, with its own set of rules, expectations, and behaviors. As you move through the rooms, you try to find the one that feels right, that resonates with who you are. But what happens when none of the rooms seem to fit? When you can’t find the one space where you feel comfortable, seen, and valued? This is the struggle of trying to find a place where you belong. It’s a challenge many face—feeling like an outsider, like a square peg in a world full of roun...

What if I like Joanna Łuczkowska photos from final presentations… What if I write about famous ballet The Rite of Spring… *inspired by the Ogólnokształcąca Szkoła Baletowa im. Romana Turczynowicza w Warszawie The first performance of the famous ballet The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) remains to this day the most scandalous ballet performance ever. The ballet premiered in 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) and performed by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The music for the ballet was composed by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). At that time, Stravinsky was exploring the theme of pagan Russian rituals, and inspired by the paintings of the Russian artist Roerich, he composed powerful, rhythmically complex music. Nijinsky's ballet is subtitled Scenes from Pagan Russia. The ballet follows a legend from pagan (pre-Christian) Russia, which tells the story of the ritual sacrifice of a virgin who must dance to death to ...

This morning we ended our one year creative journey and process of exploring, creating and dancing out our ideas that we created each of us in different environments and residencies. My dancing together, again journey started in Georgia, Tbilisi, beautiful country with beautiful culture and artists. I had an opportunity to work and dance with the best ones and I can only say that I am grateful for those moments in my life. However, that journey continues 12 days ago in Poland, Warsaw where I had opportunity to meet all wonderful souls and movement artists from all residencies at once. That was the most beautiful moment in my life when I realized with how many people I am melting throughout the day and exchanging ideas and knowledge on movement and dance. I met wonderful dancers, artist, ballerina. I tried pierogi, I walked around the whole city and enjoyed the best place in town Łazienki park (according to my opinion) I am so grateful to that opportunities and for sure I will never for...

Things happen Each project has its strengths and weaknesses. The artistic residency in Poland was meant to take up the project each of us worked on in the previous step. In my case, I was ahead of schedule (used to my company's production time) and found myself free enough to take part in other projects such as Nicola Campanelli's project, which I enjoyed. Creation, and art in general, does not have set timeframes that are equally applicable to every artist, so you have to make your own arrangements with your material and the artists you work with. Certainly there has been an overabundance of projects and thus there has been a dispersion of energy: not everyone is born a staged creator (professionally speaking). This is a reflection that also relates the very fast times of the contemporary world, which, however, do not match with the serious artist's times. Art needs its own space/time. I was happy to meet other people by giving them my energy with great pleasure. The beau...

Some images captured by Nyko Piscopo, showing moments from the rehearsals for Violet, a choreography by Giulia Roversi for Justyna Warelis and me. It has been an honor to share this creative journey with them, a process of ongoing personal and artistic discovery, as we co-created stories and characters in a deeply collaborative way. By Claudia Verdat