Silesian Dance Theater
The Silesian Dance Theatre is the first Polish, professional contemporary dance company. It was established in 1991 in Bytom by Jacek Łumiński, the choreographer and the director. He developed a new form and style based on rich cultural traditions of Poland. The style of Jacek Łumiński’s choreography and his dance creations originated from traditional and contemporary dance forms and are closely connected with Polish culture. Wherever the company performs or teaches workshops they are considered as innovative and one of a kind. At the beginning, the SDT consisted of nine dancers who were chosen through auditions advertised in national media. The founder and the choreographer of the theatre, Jacek Łumiński, and Belgian choreographer and dancer, Avi Kaiser carried out the auditions. At present, the company numbers eleven dancers. The Silesian Dance Theatre has performed and taught classes in Poland, Germany, Israel, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, USA and Hungary. Performances that appeared in the Theatre’s repertoire were created by a variety of artists : Jacek Łumiński, Avi Kaiser (Belgium), Anna Sokolow (USA), Teresa Friedman (USA), Marek Haim (USA), Risa Jaroslow (USA), Melissa Monteros (USA), Stephanie Skura (USA), Wendell Beavers (USA), Sam Costa (USA), Frank Handeler and Diane Elshout (Holland), Christine Brunel (Germany), Henrietta Horn (Germany), Conrad Drzewiecki. The repertoire has also included revivals of historical choreographic works of Pola Nireńska – Polish dancer and choreographer of the interwar period, prepared by Rima Faber from the USA.
The style of Jacek Łumiński’s contemporary dance was influenced by many culture-forming elements that emerged during his research (started in 1981) on Polish and Polish-Jewish folklore, reflecting their mentality, history, and geopolitical position. These elements shaped movement qualities and values, and motion in space. The essence of forming movement lies deep in the basis of many factors typical of the folklore of different Polish regions. Examples of such factors are: tempo rubato, asymmetrical music structure, asymmetrical pulse and other components typical of Polish regions like Podhale, Lubelszczyzna, Kurpiów, Sądecczyzna, Rzeszowszczyzna. Every region developed its own characteristics of folk tradition resulting from the experiences and mentality of its local communities. For example, there is a unique understanding of space among people living in Podhale that reflects their freedom and independence. Music, dances and songs from this region are characterized by a great variety and complexity of rhythms. Highlanders living in Podhale have a style of singing described as “open throat” that is meant to reveal their power and invincibility. All of these elements together with a somehow cacophonous sound of music help us feel the touch of both the transcendental, and the mystical aspects of human nature. While Kurpie, a rich wilderness region, brings to the modern world a variety of genuine musical forms that has remained the same through centuries (tempo rubato and also asymmetrical forms of music).
Regardless of these factors, Jewish songs, legends, superstitions, customs, habits, ceremonies, dance forms, hands, pelvis, chest, and spine, ecstatic elements, ritual movements etc. play important roles and influence the basis of the style and technique created at the Silesian Dance Theatre. Dance, considered as a conversation with God or with supernatural powers; dance, as a prayer in the Hasidic Jewish tradition, is included in the style of the SDT. “Swimming” in space, connecting the inner and outer worlds, and going beyond these worlds as achieved through the use of both technology (enriched by psychophysical knowledge) and psychic strength paints a general picture of the company.
