Akademia Ruchu
Chinese Lesson
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performance: duration 45 mins; video documentation above – 47 mins 44 secs
From the original Festival website:
The entire piece is composed of a series of performances: short five to ten minute pieces involving five members of the group – Janusz Bałdyga, Jolanta Krukowska, Cezary Marczak, Zbigniew Olkiewicz, Krzysztof Żwirblis – and originating out of thirty years of AR’s experience in building its own visual theatre language.
The group’s uninhibited actions move between private moments and those concentrated ones that require exceptional physical theatre skills – one feature that’s closely associated to Akademia Ruchu’s definition of its own creative practices.
Akademia Ruchu was created in Warsaw in 1973. Wojciech Krukowski was a founder of the group and remained its artistic director till his death in 2014. Since its beginning, Akademia Ruchu has been known as the “theatre of behaviour” and visual narration. Akademia Ruchu was a creative group working at the edge of variety of artistic disciplines – theatre, the visual arts, performance art and film.
Movement, space and the social message are characteristics of all creative processes, derived from the conviction that artistic radicalism and social message are not mutually exclusive.
Through its work in open city spaces (approximately 600 spectacles, events and street happenings), Akademia Ruchu has become Poland’s premier example of a creative group that functioned outside the official reality of the arts cult, in “non-artistic” space: the streets, residential homes, industrial zones. In turn, the elements of everyday life that Akademia Ruchu transfers into the “hallowed” realm of art (the stage, the gallery) enriched its anthropological vision without compromising its aesthetic vision.
Akademia Ruchu has presented its works in nearly all the countries of Europe, in both Americas and in Japan, during international tours and at theatrical festivals of significance, including international festivals in Caracas and Nancy, the Festival Kaaitheater in Brussels, the Chicago International Theater Festival, and the National Review of Live Art in the UK. The company has also presented at visual art shows like DOCUMENTA 8 in Kassel and the Museum of Modern Art in Yokohama.
Wojciech was the leader of the group and after he died Akademia Ruchu made the decision to cease its performance activities in 2016. Currently, the association created by group members (SPAR – Association of Friends of Akademia Ruchu) deals with the development and dissemination of the legacy in the form of film, photographic documentation and publications.
Academia Ruchu
Chinese Lesson
From the original Festival website:
The entire piece is composed of a series of performances: short five to ten minute pieces involving five members of the group – Janusz Bałdyga, Jolanta Krukowska, Cezary Marczak, Zbigniew Olkiewicz, Krzysztof Żwirbli – and originating out of thirty years of AR’s experience in building its own visual theatre language.
The group’s uninhibited actions move between private moments and those concentrated ones that require exceptional physical theatre skills – one feature that’s closely associated to Akademia Ruchu’s definition of its own creative practices.
Akademia Ruchu was created in Warsaw in 1973. Wojciech Krukowski was a founder of the group and remains its artistic director. Since its beginning, Akademia Ruchu has been known as the “theatre of behaviour” and visual narration. Akademia Ruchu is a creative group, which works at the edge of variety of artistic disciplines – theatre, the visual arts, performance art and film.
Movement, space and the social message are characteristics of all creative processes, derived from the conviction that artistic radicalism and social message are not mutually exclusive.
Through its work in open city spaces (approximately 600 spectacles, events and street happenings), Akademia Ruchu has become Poland’s premier example of a creative group that functions outside the official reality of the arts cult, in “non-artistic” space: the streets, residential homes, industrial zones. In turn, the elements of everyday life that Akademia Ruchu transfers into the “hallowed” realm of art (the stage, the gallery) have enriched its anthropological vision without compromising its aesthetic vision.
Akademia Ruchu has presented its works in nearly all the countries of Europe, in both Americas and in Japan, during international tours and at theatrical festivals of significance, including international festivals in Caracas and Nancy, the Festival Kaaitheater in Brussels, the Chicago International Theater Festival, and the National Review of Live Art. The company has also presented at visual art shows like DOCUMENTA 8 in Kassel and the Museum of Modern Art in Yokohama.