On the 13th of August, 2022, the premiere of Mourning Songs with choreography by Monika Błaszczak and music of Karol Nepelski will take place - a dance theater performance at the Poznań Gate amphitheater on the Cybina River as part of the ‘Choreographic Commissions’ programme, carried out by NIMiT. The premiere will accompany the OFF Opera social arts festival.
In her latest site-specific work, Monika Błaszczak maintains a dialogue with the natural heritage of the Cybina River surrounding the historic center of Poznań. The choreographer uses the original Solilokwium movement practice - combining somatology, hauntology and the search for the experience of mourning in the body. He creates his reflection on the passing of time on the basis of individual, collective and intergenerational memory, as well as the memory of the body, places, forests, land, plants, water and landscape.
The musical tissue of the performance are traditional mourning songs performed by the Poznań-based Pogłosy choir under the direction of Joanna Sykulska - winner of the Polish Radio New Tradition Folk Music Festival. The composer Karol Nepelski and the playwright Patrycja Kowanska use the historical source material, looking for themes related to nature, the passing of time and folk rituals.
An important point of reference is Symphony No. 3 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ by H. M. Górecki. Nepelski - like Górecki - combines tradition with modernity, and juxtaposes the human voice with electronic sound.The performance will be preceded by a series of open dance theater workshops. The participants of the workshop process will become the co-authors of the performance.
Press release
More: https://nimit.pl/wydarzenia/premiera-piesni-zalobnych-w-choreografii-moniki-blaszczak/