Old Brewery New Dance for Children was a pioneering (first in Poland) educational programme in experimental dance for families.
The interactive form of offered activities and the expansive approach towards dance and choreography as both an artistic and social experience make the project stand out and take it to an international level. The project also aimed to integrate the communities of academics, artists and educators, which allowed to translate academic knowledge into art, and conversely, to expand knowledge through art.
The Dancing Families project made a clear statement that early artistic experiences are vital, as they result in an open and critical stance on art, they awaken the need to daily partake in culture, they foster creativity and respect for human diversity in age and body shapes; they also strengthen family bonds.
The three main pillars of the project were family movement workshops, presentation and production of dance shows for kids and families and professional training for dancers and choreographers who works already ioth, and who wish to create for young audiences.
The programme was inaugurated on May 31th of 2011 with a “Theater for infants” discussion panel. After that, Joanna Leśnierowska, the programme curator in Art Stations Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk, has invited Alicja Morawska-Rubczak – Polish expert in theater for the youngest audiences – to create the Old Brewery New Dance for Children project led by belief that Movement is child’s natural form of expression. Before and above words there is always body dynamics. The focus on the physical, the body, connects contemporary dance with the child’s perception. Children understand the language of dance in an excellent, almost sensory way. However, our country still lacks interesting artistic proposals that would make use of this potential – spectacles of contemporary dance created with children in mind. Polish theater for children is currently in its heyday, with performances for the youngest audience created by important directors, yet the repertoire of Polish choreographers does not include many performances for children. This is not the case in the rest of the world, which is why we have decided to initiate the Old Brewery New Dance for Children program, inviting to Poland the most interesting proposals of this trend from all over the world. (fragment of the curatorial text)
In 2014, with a sharpening of the program lineup and a focus on family events, the program changed its name to Dancing Families.
Over the next years, the theater pedagogue Sandra Lewandowska has developed further workshops line-up within the programme; she was also dedicated to the process of building the Polish scene of experimental dance for families.
In 2017, Hanna Bylka-Kanecka – a researcher in dance and choreography for kids and families and co-founder of the Holobiont Collective – took over as supervisor of the project.
The project has observed how the body acts as a mediator for imagination, making the body the focal point. What can a family gain by focusing on movement? How does the participants’ relationship to themselves and those close to them change (expand) thanks to conscious bodywork? How can “small” and “big” bodies dance together? Why get on the floor to play with your child? How can we move together while staying connected to our own needs? What do our family choreographies look like? How to read signals from our body and let them lead the way on a daily basis? The attempt to answer those questions is rooted in a belief that movement gives each of us access to our most precious resources: our breath, our connection to the earth, the intimate rhythm of our organs and fluids, our body’s relationship to space and to other bodies. Observing movement in ourselves (and ourselves in movement), as well as in our family constellations (and societal ones) can give us a creative insight into the exciting and vulnerable layer of reality. We strongly believe that uncovering this layer is a valuable tool in building our health, sense of agency and fulfilling relationships with ourselves and the world.
74 family dance workshops, 90 dance shows for families and 8 coaching projects for movement professionals working with kids have been carried over 11 years. A performative installation and the “Baby Space” performance by Dalija Aćin Thelander – artist significantly influencing the global growth of choreography for kids – took place in 2013. The Holobiont Collective – the first Polish artistic formation on the experimental family choreography arena – has created two interactive performances in 2016 and 2019, namely the “Around” working with foam elements and “_on_line__” about gestures of drawing. The programme has co-produced the “flying & falling” show by Theater o.N. in Berlin (2015), “Up Side Down” by Dalija Aćin Thelander and Keren Levi (2016), and “Where shapes have necks” by the Holobiont Collective (2019).
The „Dancing Dialogues” e-publication – an overview of the programme’s achievements with articles, interviews and reflections on dance for the youngest – has been released for Dancing Families’ 10th anniversary.
After ten years at Stary Browar, due to the end of Old Brewery New Dance activities, in 2021 program was supported by a foundation and created its own website. It has been realized since under the aegis of the Polski Theater in Poznań where it found a new home.
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