| The Woman Decomposed |
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Performance by Gema Galiana of Studio Matejka Thu 16 May, 9pm Fri 17 May, 9pm Laboratory Theatre Space Tickets: 10 PLN Bookings and tickets: sekretariat@grotowski-institute.art.pl; tel. 71 34 45 320 Online tickets Performance in Spanish and English  The Woman Decomposed breaks down and builds up again and again. Built and destroyed without acceptance or rejection, observing herself looking at the mirror of loneliness. The Woman Decomposed breaks down and builds up again and again for pleasure, pain, disappointment, rebellion, questions, love and freedom. The Woman Decomposed is one thing and at the same time another. She is what we are, what we are not and what we wanted to be – many in one. The Woman Decomposed breaks down, broken up again and again, trying to find her part, part of which we are all part, at least in part as part of humanity. The Woman Decomposed is a microcosm of a broken world, broken down by its own tragedy, the tragedy of loneliness among the crowd, of contradiction, of dissatisfaction. The Woman Decomposed does not flee from herself; instead, she embraces her tragedy and laughs at it until disorientation. Loneliness is a space for freedom. I am a spectator of the world I inhabit. This performance is inspired by The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa and Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. Dream and reality mix; dreaming and acting become one. My imaginary world was the only world for me. I never had love so real, so full of vigour, blood and life as the figures that I created for myself. Fernando Pessoa CREATED AND PERFORMED BY: Gema Galiana DIRECTOR: Matej Matejka DRAMATURG: Anthony Nikolchev SET AND GRAPHIC DESIGN: La Mujer Tranvia MUSIC COLLABORATION: Daniel Han Length: 50’ Gema Galiana was born in Spain and studied acting at the Superior School of Dramatic Art in Murcia, where she trained in classical Spanish theatre. She has worked with Julian Herrero, Dora Centenero, Jorge Urrea, Teatro del Aire, Rizoma Teatro and Ferroviaria Ensemble. She is interested in physical theatre – she has completed numerous courses with Isabel Ubeda, Bruce Myers, Gabriel Gawin, Raúl Iaiza, and with OBRA theatre company at Au Brana. She is now part of Studio Matejka. Gema has eight years of experience with Karate Goju-Ryu. Matej Matejka is the founder and leader of Studio Matejka. He studied acting at the State Conservatory in Bratislava, Slovakia, later at JAMU University, Brno, Czech Republic. From 2001–2006 he was an actor with the theatre studio Farm in the Cave, Prague, and co-creator of the projects and performances Dark Love Sonnets, Journey to the Station and Sclavi/The Song of an Emigrant, which won a Total Theatre Award, a Fringe First Award and a Herald Angel Award at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe. Since 2005 he has collaborated with the Grotowski Institute, where he is engaged in research of physical expression in the theatre. He is also an actor and leader of physical training in Teatr ZAR, performing in Gospels of Childhood, Caesarean Section: Essays on Suicide (winner of a Total Theatre Award and a Herald Angel Award at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe) and Anhelli: The Calling. He leads his own work sessions called Wakening the Listening Body at the Grotowski Institute, as well as with Teatr ZAR, both in Poland and internationally. In his work he searches for the performer’s “essence of communication” where both dance and drama are only vehicles for the actor’s expression. Studio Matejka is a physical theatre laboratory exploring 21st-century performance techniques that specifically work across borders: borders between performance genres, borders between training techniques, and borders between individual expression and collective resonance. Through practical investigation, the performers work to develop the strength, agility and dexterity to physically “speak” through a diverse range of ideas, images and vocabularies. Studio Matejka does not work to create something different from existing performance approaches and training regimes. Rather, it uses such established methods as a springboard for pedagogic and creative exploration, charting individual discoveries, drawing out patterns and/or contradictions and integrating these findings into its ongoing work. The Studio is led by Matej Matejka and composed of eight performers from seven countries. Additionally, the Studio is regularly accompanied by external affiliates. Vivien Wood (UK), Sarie Mairs Slee (UK/USA) and Milan Kozanek (Slovakia) assist the leader in the psychophysical research. Ditte Berkeley (Denmark/UK) and Jaros³aw Fret (Poland) lead music training and supervise music composition. Bryan Brown (USA) collaborates on the dramaturgy of the performances. The academic team of the Studio is supervised by Sarie Mairs Slee (USA), assisted by Torbjorn Oppedal (Norway) and Ragnhild Freng Dale (Norway), who record, contextualize and inform the laboratory research. The Studio’s film and documentary team is comprised of Adam Hanuljak (Slovakia), Peter Kotrha (Slovakia) and Karol Jarek (Poland). In total there are nineteen persons, representing eleven nationalities, involved artistically in Studio Matejka. More: www.studiomatejka.com As part of BodyConstitution, practical seminar |