"News from Polska" Performing Arts Festival

From May 5–11, the National Center for Dance Bucharest (CNDB) will host the fifth edition of the News from Polska Performing Arts Festival, organized by the Polish Institute in Bucharest. This edition is held as part of Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025 and the Poland–Romania Cultural Season 2024–2025.

Under the title "Resisting Bodies", this year's curatorial concept focuses on the human body as a space of resistance, transformation, and empowerment in a world facing crises at every level. The festival brings to Bucharest audiences four performances from Poland that raise questions, invite unfamiliar ways of thinking, and explore the protest potential of the body in motion.

Curated by Andreea Andrei – curator, cultural manager, and artistic consultant at CNDB – the festival starts from the premise that contemporary dance and performing arts must reassert their relevance beyond artistic expression, treating them as tools for critical reflection.

The selected performances approach physicality from multiple angles, highlighting the visceral power of the body to resist norms, control structures, and imposed behavioral, aesthetic, or kinetic models. Alongside the performances representing contemporary Polish performing arts, the organizers will also offer workshops for dance professionals, exploring connections between different artistic languages and the moving body, as well as the expressive power of improvisation and intuitive dance.

Festival Program Highlights:

• May 5 at 9:00 AM – "Between Disciplines", a contemporary dance workshop led by Dominika Knapik – an actress, director, and choreographer with extensive experience in the performing arts scene in Poland and Germany.
  Free access; limited capacity; registration required via the provided form.
• May 5 at 7:30 PM – "VALESKA VALESKA VALESKA VALESKA", also by Dominika Knapik, celebrates the legacy of Valeska Gert, a pioneer of modern performance art known for her radical and eccentric approach to the body in art.
  Produced by the Performa Foundation.
• May 7 at 7:30 PM – "To bitch or not to bitch", a performance produced, directed, choreographed, and performed by the Hertz Haus collective (Magdalena Kowala, Natalia Murawska, Joanna Woźna, Anna Zglenicka).
  This piece confronts dominant narratives that shape our perception and understanding of the body.
• May 8 at 4:00 PM – "Open Bodies: Intuitive Dance / Improvisation", a workshop led by Marta Wołowiec and hosted at Teatrelli.
  Marta is a performer, choreographer, dancer, workshop facilitator, and founder of the Krakow Dance Festival.
  Free participation; registration required via the provided form.
• May 9 at 7:30 PM – "WoW", conceived, directed, and choreographed by Marta Wołowiec.
  This production, created under Przestrzenie Sztuki Taniec 2023 in collaboration with the Wrocław Pantomime Theatre, reflects on the historical phenomenon of choreomania (also known as the dancing plague or St. Vitus Dance), which swept through parts of Europe and Madagascar, provoking uncontrollable fits of dancing until collapse. The piece speaks to the human need for release through movement, especially in difficult times.
• May 11 at 7:30 PM – "Cezary Goes to War", directed by Cezary Tomaszewski.
  This is the most acclaimed production of Komuna Warszawa Theater, one of the most important theatre events of 2017 in Poland.
  It has toured internationally and received the Best Artistic Team award at the 10th Divine Comedy International Theatre Festival in Krakow.
  The performance deconstructs traditions, ideologies, and power structures, offering a critique of military pride and aesthetics, highlighting their toxic and oppressive nature.
  Tomaszewski is known for his iconoclastic approach to musical theatre.

Through its fifth edition, News from Polska emphasizes that resistance is not confined to politics or ideas, and the body is more than just a projection surface—it is a complex, tangible instrument that can viscerally and directly challenge societal and political constraints.

Organizers and Partners:

• Organized by: Polish Institute in Bucharest
• Co-financed by: Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Warsaw)
• Partners: National Center for Dance Bucharest (CNDB), Teatrelli – CREART
• Media partners: Bookhub, Daily Magazine, Happ.ro, Haute Culture, Iscoada, LIFE.ro, Liternet, Modernism, Observator Cultural, Radio România Cultural, Revista Arta, Revista BIZ, Revista Golan, The Institute, Visit Bucharest, Zeppelin, Zile și Nopți
• Project Team: Andreea Andrei – Curator; Paweł Rutkowski – Project Manager, Polish Institute in Bucharest; Alex Iliescu – Graphic Design; Anca Spiridon – PR & Communication; Gabriel Copoeru – Teaser Video