ABOUT FESTIVAL
The jubilee, 15th edition of the Warsaw CI Flow International Dance Festival is a celebration of dance, performance, and improvisation! We have invited teachers who have been co-creating the festival with us from the very beginning: Ray Chang and Iwona Olszowska, as well as new, long-awaited teachers: Nina Martin and Anya Cloud. There will be a lot of dance, improvisation in larger structures, and site-specific workshops. Once again, we gather at the Mazovian Institute of Culture and its surrounding gardens.
Fifteen years ago, Paulina dreamt of creating a space for dance, community, and fun with an easy-going, inclusive ambience – something quite different from many formal spaces for culture and dance. A place for intercultural and intergenerational encounters. She aimed at creating a dialogue between global centres of Contact Improvisation and Warsaw (locally referred to as the heart of Europe). The FLOW Festival has already inspired several generations of dancers and movers, firmly establishing itself in the landscape of CI events in Europe. Although the festival team has changed many times, the same ambitions persist: to create a programme showcasing both the roots of CI and contemporary related practices, while ensuring inclusivity and diversity of practice. So, this year, once again: See you at the MIK!
ABOUT THIS YEAR'S EDITION
This year, you can expect a lot of dance, Contact Improvisation (CI) technique, and performative actions:
Ray Chang, one of the pioneers of Contact Improvisation, will lead the morning intensive “Ready”, focusing on engagement in dance at physical, mental, emotional, and creative levels. The session will explore mobility, agility, and flexibility in movement and choices, combining experience, practice, and forging new paths in improvisation.
Anya Cloud, representing experimental approaches in improvisation, somatics, and contemporary dance, invites participants to a workshop that is both highly physical and political: “Contact Improvisation as a High-Risk Practice”. The workshop emphasises movement potential by working on sensing, pressure, intention, tonus, direction, time, quality, and sequencing. It aims to enhance Contact Improvisation skills, enabling better listening, expressing consent, setting boundaries, and taking risks.
Nina Martin, the creator of the Ensemble Thinking approach, will lead the performative intensive “Big Picture”, inviting participants to immerse themselves in forms naturally occurring in improvisational dance performance: Solo Body, Contact Improvisation Body, and Ensemble Body. In her approach, improvisational dance in performance invites us to move freely across all three forms to embody improvisation as a form of art in the present moment.
Iwona Olszowska, a Polish improviser who has been supporting the festival from the very beginning, will lead the afternoon urban mini-intensive “Resonating”, taking Contact Improvisation away from the predictable spaces of the Mazovian Institute of Culture (MIK) to the city and its gardens. Her practice is based on mindfulness, exploring how the space in which we dance influences our movement patterns and manifests in our choices.
Zuzanna Bukowski, drawing from the Axis Syllabus in her practice, will lead the somatic afternoon mini-intensive “Moving me, moving you”, diving into themes such as soft landings, tensegrity, and bone movement in the body. Her workshop will bring together various movement approaches, from biodynamic to choreographic, blending the fundamentals of reflexes with creative exploration and play.
In addition, as always, there will be various labs, live music jams, and activities for the community. Each year, we also allocate several spots for FLOW scholarship recipients. For the jubilee edition, we are inviting performing improvisers, creating a space (both formal and informal) for presenting works, scores, and moments of improvised dance for the audience.
See you at the MIK!
PROGRAM INCLUDES:
Somatic Approaches
Workshops exploring how different traditions of somatic education (e.g., Axis Syllabus) can support the technique of movement and CI dancing. Open to all participants, especially those who wish to deepen their understanding of movement through embodied experience.
Performance Labs
Workshops and labs exploring the performative dimension of CI. Intended for people with more established dance practice, interested in ensemble creative work and relation with the audience.
You will share the project outcome at the festival.
Intensive Workshop
Intensive, 5-day morning workshops, some open to all levels, others intended for advanced practitioners (to choose from while registering). Afternoon classes are open to all participants. You can just come.
Underscore
A practice of mindful jam, developed by Nancy Stark Smith, one of the founders and global educators of CI. The Underscore structure allows for a full spectrum of energetic and physical expression, embodying various forms and changing states.
CI kids & families
Space and time for children and their parents to co-create and collaborate through
movement. Based on spontaneous play, improvisation, elements of CI and developmental movement methods. Supporting independence and self-confidence of both youngsters and
oldies.
Jams
Evening jams with various flavours, including focus jam, live music evenings, blind jam.
Primarily, it is a time to celebrate the diversity and resilience of the CI community. Time to
meet in dance.
Conversations, discussions
We will place our practice within the theoretical context; we will discuss the topics relevant to our practice and questions about what bothers us. People involved in teaching, theory and practice will share their research on CI.
CI library
A space where you can find books, publications and magazines related to CI. Do you have interesting materials, books or articles or maybe you write about CI yourself and want to share your work with others? Please send us a copy or bring it with you to the festival.
Teachers meeting
A space dedicated to exchanging experiences and designing the most creative, safe and
inclusive space for people participating in the festival and introducing good practices to the
community.