I hesitated briefly, then signed up and went. Where to stay, what to pack, which classes to take—all this fell into place. For five days I moved to the beat of a community that felt simultaneously new and familiar. Yes, this was my first time attending Cyrkulacje. And yes, all around me were people I knew from the Warsaw contact improvisation community, which welcomed me like no other community ever has when I stumbled into its circles just over one year ago*.
The main event for me was Tomek Pomersbach’s course Odpoczynek w Ruchu, an Ilan Lev Method-based exploration of movement as a way to rest rather than tire the body. Combining a meditative self-scrutiny I associate with the Feldenkrais method with a wild spontaneity that reminded me of Gaga, Tomek’s approach was the exact opposite of the tense ambition I’ve long associated with physical training and performance of any sort. A path to mastery through looseness and ease, how refreshing.
Another highlight was the Gaga group’s performance. Having practiced for days with Gaga legend Natalia Iwaniec, the dancers were magnificent. Arranged in two parallel rows opposite one another, steadily they walked toward the center, passed each other, and continued toward the edges of the space, only to turn around and begin the sequence again. At every passing, two or three dancers would drop out of formation and begin dancing—sometimes wildly, sometimes in way that seemed theatrical, sometimes in connection with one another. At the next passing these dancers would rejoin the lines and others would stumble out to begin their solos. The music was a sequence of dance tracks as intense, energizing, and odd as the performance. Later I discovered that the choreography the group rehearsed for days had been a decoy all along. Minutes before the performance everyone got a new prompt for their performative dance—something like your face is on fire, or opening the Champagne in a snowstorm, or fingertips full of love. Improvisation embodied. As to when was whose turn, that was to follow from some kind of addled counting that the group had to accomplish during each pass, which surely accounted for the priceless confusion with which each dancer launched into her or his solo.
The weather, too, deserves a mention. The first week of May in 2023 saw the year’s very first hot days. Like the festival, the high temperatures and bright skies were a sign of the summer just around the corner.
Pictured above are scenes from movement classes, dancers taking a break in the hot sun, and the one glimpse of Wrocław I managed to get on camera. With thanks to Tomek Pomersbach, Iwona Olszowska, Tere Więcko, Bartosz Jakubowski, Olga Skrzypek, Bartek Bartosiński, and Julian Zubek. And with affection for my travel companions, Hanna Moroch and Anna Maria Tuszyńska.
* Buried here is my heretofore CI CV in chronological order. First, I learned about CI around Easter ’22 from the last guy I would deign to meet over Tinder (and by far my best stroke of Tinder luck!). Then, I took a few eye-opening late-spring classes with Tomek Domański at Dom Kultury Kadr. Next, I sustained a week-long immersive contact improvisation debut during Warsaw Flow 2022 at the majestic MIK in July. Then I dug in deeper (and healed lifelong inner strife with the City of Warsaw) by participating in the site specific performance by Sveta Bird and Dani Drago directly afterwards. After that, I signed up for a year’s worth of BMC and CI classes with body maven Andrzej Woźniak. Then, I started showing up to the occasional Wednesday weekly jam at Skaryszewska. Then I was back at MIK for the Perform Foundation’s wonderful Sunday class-and-jam combos and the fantastic inaugural Winter Jam. Next, I attended an enlightening weekend workshop with Filip Wencki. Then, I signed up and began rehearsing for the upcoming Still Standing performance by Weronika Pelczyńska, Monika Szpunar, and Aleksandra Janus. And just recently I made the decision to attend Cyrkulacje in Wrocław. Over the course of all this jamming and breathing and honing my presence I made friends, found meaning, and discovered a taste for experiences previously unimaginable.