The awarding of the Polityka Passport in the “Stage” category to Wojtek Grudziński was a historic moment for Poland’s contemporary dance scene, which has long fought for visibility and the autonomy of choreography as an art form. Over the years, Grudziński – a recent graduate of the prestigious DAS Theatre – Academy of Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam, currently supported by the Frascati production group, now developing his career mostly abroad – has earned the recognition from Polish audiences as the creator of original, bold, and aesthetically striking works produced by such theatres as Nowy Teatr in Warsaw and Komuna Warszawa.

In Threesome / Trzy, the artist dances with ghosts. And no lesser ghosts are they. The astonishing, music-driven séance summons Stanisław Szymański, Wojciech Wiesiołłowski, and Gerard Wilk – three towering figures of Polish ballet and, at the same time, three sexually non-normative men. Grudziński recreates fragments of their choreographies, yet introducing powerful aesthetic and political shifts. In his performance, ballet – often perceived as a classical form preserving traditional ideas of gender – becomes reinterpreted and liberated. It is shown as an art of queer men, open to potential excess or scandal. The piece strongly engages the senses. The music by Lubomir Grzelak and Wojtek Blecharz, lighting by Jacqueline Sobiszewski, and video materials from Rafał Dominik create a suffocating and intense atmosphere. Yet the key element among all these is the performer’s body. Grudziński plays with our perception: in his dance – erotic, at times acrobatic, drawing on both ballet and voguing – he becomes a strange creature, a trickster, a rebellious child of the spirits he summons to allow them to dance once more, this time through his body.

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The performance includes nudity and strobe lighting

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Photo by Maurycy Stankiewicz