Pola Nireńska. Open Rehearsal | Performance

What is it about?

A performance inspired by the life and work of Pola Nireńska—one of the most outstanding Polish dancers and choreographers of the 20th century. Here’s what Agnieszka Przepiórska, who plays the lead role, has to say about the performance:

This is a story about memory. About what remains of a person once the witnesses to their life are gone. About history inscribed in the body, in movement, and in art. About an attempt to preserve the traces of those who have passed away.
This is a story of determination, perseverance, ambition, and talent—a story about fighting for oneself and making dreams come true, despite adverse circumstances: family, social, political, and historical.
Pola Nireńska was an artist who carried the experience of the 20th century with her throughout her life. Born into a Jewish family and forced to flee the Holocaust, she spent the following decades forging her own path across countries, languages, and cultures. Dance became her refuge, a way of telling stories about the world, but also a language of memory.
This is a performance about a passion for dance—or rather, about the need to dance—about journeys, love, and loss. It is also a story about exclusion and the experience of being a refugee.
An actress and a dancer meet on stage. Their presences influence, intertwine, and complement one another. Sometimes they are two facets of the same person; other times, they are her memory, her shadow, or her image. When Pola can no longer speak, she begins to dance. When words prove insufficient, movement takes over the story.
The creators of the play draw on Nireńska’s biography, but they do not present a traditional biographical narrative. They are primarily interested in the memory embedded in the body and in the question of whether art can preserve what seems doomed to oblivion.
It is also a play about the power of art to transcend borders and national, political, and social divisions. About art that allows people on different sides of history to come together. About the need to remember the past and the responsibility that comes with that memory.

Because perhaps a person truly leaves us only when we stop telling their story.

By whom?

Agnieszka Przepiórska—the project’s initiator, one of Poland’s leading creators of contemporary biographical monodramas, and a theater, film, and TV series actress affiliated with the Powszechny Theater in Warsaw. Winner of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Award for Best Polish Actress of the 2022–2023 season. She has created acclaimed productions dedicated to, among others, Simona Kossak, Zuzanna Ginczanka, Anna Walentynowicz, and Barbara Sadowska.

Anna Krysiak—a dancer, choreographer, and educator who has collaborated with, among others, the Grand Theater—National Opera and Poland’s leading theater directors. Winner of the “Golden Yorick” award for her choreography for the production of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Maja Kleczewska—one of Poland’s most outstanding contemporary theater directors, winner of the “Polityka” Passport Award, the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, and multiple recipient of the country’s most prestigious theater awards. Her productions have been presented at Europe’s most prominent theaters and festivals.

Cezary Duchnowski—composer, pianist, and creator of electroacoustic music; lecturer at the Academy of Music in Wrocław; composer of music for theater productions and multimedia projects.

Piotr Rowicki—a playwright and author of several dozen plays, a longtime collaborator of Agnieszka Przepiórska, and co-creator of her most important biographical monodramas. Winner of numerous awards for contemporary Polish drama.

FOR WHOM

The performance is intended for young people aged 16 and older, as well as adults interested in theater, dance, and 20th-century history. It is aimed at audiences who appreciate biographical theater, stories about memory, and art that engages in a dialogue with history and the present. It may be of particular interest to those involved in Jewish culture, the history of migration, contemporary dance, and the role of art in shaping our memory of the past.

Why is it worth it?

Pola Nireńska’s life story weaves together many themes that remain relevant today: the experience of being a refugee, life between cultures, the memory of the Holocaust, and the struggle to find one’s own voice and place in the world. For years, the Łódź Multicultural Festival has been bringing to light the stories of people whose lives transcended the boundaries of languages, nations, and identities. The performance dedicated to Nireńska aligns with this vision, commemorating an artist who spent her entire life building her body of work at the intersection of diverse cultures and experiences. It is also a unique opportunity to witness a gathering of outstanding artists from the Polish theater scene, brought together by the story of one of the most fascinating figures in 20th-century Polish culture.

Availability

The performance on September 21 at 7:00 p.m. will be interpreted into Polish Sign Language (PJM).

The event will take place at the Center for Dialogue in the theater and cinema hall, which is equipped with an induction loop.

The Dialogue Center building is accessible to people with mobility impairments. It has wide, non-automatic entrance doors, an accessible restroom, and an elevator. The auditorium is located on the ground floor, has a ramp, and features wheelchair-accessible seating in the audience area. In front of the building, there is a large parking lot with designated spaces for people with disabilities. Assistance dogs and guide dogs are welcome both inside the building and in the auditorium. The building is equipped with the ToTuPoint audio navigation system. The entrance to the parking lot is on Wojska Polskiego Street. Nearby bus and tram stops include: Wojska Polskiego/Centrum Dialogu and Wojska Polskiego/Sporna.

Photos

Agnieszka Przepiórska, press mat., photo: Olga Tuz