Stanisław Bulder: Behold My Body
As a child, you do not realize that these gestures are being inscribed in the body. Even as an adult, you may not notice how deeply they have settled there. Only years later do you discover that, together with them, you absorbed an entire image of the world.
The performance moves from the intimate history of a single body to the collective experience of society. It examines how systems of power shape individual behavior, but also the ways peopleimagine themselves, their community, and the possible order of the world.
Stanisław Bulder returns to this bodily archive, asking himself what he remembers. He remembers a surprising amount.
Based on a True Story is an international arts project that brings together three cultural organizations from Central Europe—ARCHA+ (Czech Republic), Komuna Warszawa (Poland), and Projekt Batyskaf (Slovakia). Its goal is to support and implement the curatorial concept by young theater artists Adam Dragun (SK/CZ) and Olga Ciężkowska (PL), titled Based on a True Story. The project focuses on contemporary theater and performance practices that employ documentary approaches and research-based artistic processes. More information can be found here.
Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the Centre for International Cooperation. Neither the European Union nor the grant provider accepts any responsibility for them.
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Concept, choreography, performance: Stanisław Bulder
Mentoring support: Ira Brand, Gosia Wdowik
Residency support: Komuna Warszawa, HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts
Photography: Anja Schneider
50 minutes
Big hall, free seating
Polish with English subtitles
15+
is a performer, dancer and choreographer. He graduated from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Warsaw and completed the contemporary dance programme at the Opus Ballet school in Florence. He recently completed his Master’s degree with distinction at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.
In his work, he uses movement (and its absence) to challenge dominant narratives of power and exclusion. He has long been an advocate for the rights of farm animals and strives to create emancipatory artworks that reflect and defend the interests of non-human animals.
“My artistic work to date has enabled me to define my own approach to choreography as a space in which ideas can be embodied and experimented with. Through working with form, I explore various concepts in practice. I seek out the tension between ordinary everyday activities and the movements that belong to the language of dance. In pursuit of an interdisciplinary approach, I explore the boundaries between visual art, performance and choreography. I am interested in revealing and unmasking narratives of power by playing with what is considered ‘appropriate’ and what is considered ‘inappropriate’.”
