From 5 to 11 May 2025, the National Centre for Dance in Bucharest (CNDB) will host the fifth edition of the “News from Polska” Performing Arts Festival. Held under the slogan “Resisting Bodies”, this year’s edition presents a curatorial concept that explores the human body as a site of resistance, transformation, and agency in a world marked by crises on multiple levels. The Bucharest audience will have the opportunity to experience four performances from Poland that raise questions, provoke unconventional thinking, and present various forms of bodily protest in motion. All performances will be presented with Romanian subtitles. The event is organised by the Polish Institute in Bucharest, with the support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Contemporary Dance and Performing Arts as Tools for Critical Reflection

Curated by Andreea Andrei – curator, cultural manager, and artistic consultant at CNDB – this edition of the festival starts with the premise that contemporary dance and performing arts must be reasserted not only as forms of artistic expression, but also as powerful tools for critical reflection. The selected performances explore corporeality from multiple angles, highlighting the body’s ability to resist and challenge repressive norms, mechanisms of control, imposed patterns of behaviour, aesthetics, and movement. Alongside performances showcasing the contemporary Polish performative scene, the organisers will also offer workshops for dance professionals, focusing on the connection between the moving body and other artistic languages, as well as the expressive potential of improvisation and intuitive dance.

The “News from Polska” Performing Arts Festival takes place within the framework of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025 and the Poland–Romania Cultural Season 2024–2025. It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Romanian Ministry of Culture, and the Romanian Cultural Institute, with the support of the Polish Institute in Bucharest.

Programme of the “News from Polska” Performing Arts Festival 2025 in Romania

Tickets for all performances can be purchased via bilet.ro. The programme of the fifth edition of the “News from Polska” Festival underscores the idea that resistance is not solely a political concept confined to the realm of ideology, and the body is not merely a vessel for projecting such ideas. Rather, the body is a tangible and complex instrument, capable of instinctively and directly expressing opposition to political and social norms and constraints.

• On 5 May at 9:00 a.m., the festival opens with the contemporary dance workshop “Between Disciplines”, led by Dominika Knapik – an actress, director, and choreographer with extensive experience in the performing arts in Poland and Germany. Participation in the workshop is free of charge, but places are limited and advance registration is required. The day concludes at 7:30 p.m. with the performance “VALESKA VALESKA VALESKA VALESKA”, also by Dominika Knapik. This piece pays homage to the visionary artist Valeska Gert, a pioneer of modern performance art renowned for her eccentric, radical, and critical exploration of the body in artistic expression. The performance is produced by the Performa Foundation.
• On 7 May at 7:30 p.m., the performance “To bitch or not to bitch” will be presented, produced, directed, choreographed, and performed by the artistic collective Hertz Haus (Magdalena Kowala, Natalia Murawska, Joanna Woźna, Anna Zglenicka). This piece challenges dominant narratives through which individuals define their own bodies, as well as the filters of perception and judgement that shape how bodies are viewed and valued.
• On 8 May at 4:00 p.m., the workshop “Open Bodies. Intuitive Dance / Improvisation”, led by Marta Wołowiec, will take place in the Teatrelli space. Marta Wołowiec is a performer, choreographer, dancer, and dance workshop leader, as well as the initiator and curator of the Kraków Dance Festival. Participation in the workshop is free of charge, but registration is required.
• On 9 May at 7:30 p.m., CNDB will present the performance “WoW”, directed and choreographed by Marta Wołowiec. The production is a collaboration between Przestrzeń Sztuki Taniec 2023 and the Wrocław Pantomime Theatre. The piece is a reflection on the historical phenomenon of choreomania – also known as tarantism, the dancing plague, or St. Vitus’s Dance – which occurred primarily in continental Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries, and in Madagascar in the 19th century. This phenomenon provoked uncontrollable dancing fits in both children and adults, often continuing until total physical exhaustion. The performance explores the human need for liberation through movement and dance, especially in difficult times.
• The final event of the festival will be the Bucharest premiere of the performance “Cezary Goes to War”, directed by Cezary Tomaszewski – the most renowned work of the Komuna Warszawa Theatre, and widely regarded as one of the most significant theatre events of 2017. Presented in numerous countries, the production received the award for Best Artistic Group at the tenth edition of the International Theatre Festival Divine Comedy in Kraków. Scheduled for 11 May at 7:30 p.m., the performance offers a bold deconstruction of tradition, ideology, and power structures. It critiques military pride and its aesthetics, exposing their toxic and oppressive dimensions. Cezary Tomaszewski is a theatre director and choreographer known for his iconoclastic musical theatre productions.

This event forms part of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025 and the Poland–Romania Cultural Season 2024–2025, a collaborative initiative of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Romanian Ministry of Culture, and the Romanian Cultural Institute, with the support of the Polish Institute in Bucharest.

Organiser: Polish Institute in Bucharest

Co-financed by: Adam Mickiewicz Institute

Partners: National Centre for Dance in Bucharest, Teatrelli – CREART

Media partners: Bookhub, Daily Magazine, Happ.ro, Haute Culture, Iscoada, LIFE.ro, Liternet, Modernism, Observator Cultural, Radio România Cultural, Revista Arta, Revista BIZ, Revista Golan, The Institute, Visit Bucharest, Zeppelin, Zile și Nopți.

Project team: Andreea Andrei – curator; Paweł Rutkowski – project coordinator // Polish Institute in Bucharest; Alex Iliescu – visual identity; Anca Spiridon – PR; Gabriel Copoeru – teaser video