The performance “Toaca” – 35th edition of FNT in Bucharest with the participation of the Polish Dance Theatre

The performance “Toaca”, created by three acclaimed Romanian choreographers in collaboration with the Polish Dance Theatre, will be presented on 18 October 2025 in Bucharest during the 35th Festivalului Național de Teatru. The artists on stage will offer a symbolic and emotional tale of ritual, transition, and community. The performance in the Romanian capital is part of the Poland-Romania 2024–2025 Cultural Season.

Polish Dance Theatre and Romanian choreographers – theatre, dance, and spirituality in “Toaca”

“Toaca” is a performance born out of the need to explore ritual, spirituality, and transition – through dance, costume, rhythm, and symbolism – yet without pathos. The title refers to a wooden instrument used in Orthodox monasteries, the sound of which signals the times of prayer, death, life, and the communal rhythms of everyday life. In the performance, it becomes both a metaphor for transformation and a point of contact between Romanian and Polish traditions.

The performance was created by an international creative collective. Its authors are choreographers Mădălina Dan, Andrea Gavriliu, and Ștefan Lupu – artists deeply rooted in Romanian movement theatre. In 2024, they collaborated with dancers from the Polish Dance Theatre, creating “Toaca”, a performance full of images, masks, rituals, and music inspired by folk motifs, moving with both the full force of the body and presence, and the expressiveness of words. Lasting 100 minutes, the story is composed of three choreographic chapters, prepared separately by each artist, which together form a symbolic and coherent whole.

Culture without borders: the Polish-Romanian performance “Toaca” at a theatre festival in Romania

The performance “Toaca” will be presented in Bucharest twice – at 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm on 18 October 2025 – as part of the 35th Festivalului Național de Teatru (17–26 October 2025). The festival was organised by a curatorial team consisting of Raluca Cîrciumaru (theatre critic), Alina Epîngeac (theatre critic), and Ionuț Sociu (playwright and cultural journalist). The full programme of events – in addition to theatre performances – includes performance and visual installations, performance readings, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, book launches, and radio theatre. The performances presented in this year’s edition are not merely an overview of the 2024/2025 season; they are a deliberate selection resulting from the curatorial team’s ongoing dialogue, based on professional, aesthetic, and metatheatrical criteria, as part of an inclusive process that aims to reflect as fully as possible the current state of contemporary theatre.

The slogan of the 35th edition is: “FNT 2025. TE PRIVEȘTE!”. The phrase “Te privește!” in Romanian means: “It concerns you!” or “It’s your business!”. The slogan is both a call for solidarity and civic responsibility at a crucial time – when utopias are transforming into dystopias and monuments are crumbling in a brazen yet perhaps necessary way – and an affirmation of the dialogical exchange between artist and audience. This edition celebrates organic artistic initiatives that treat the stage as a space for addressing pressing contemporary issues, while emphasising aesthetic coherence, self-reflexivity, and the audience’s active role within the theatrical ecosystem. The gaze that evaluates artistic value thus becomes a dynamic and engaged one. The 35th edition of FNT takes the form of a prism that metaphorically splits the light of the stage into bundles of meaning and fundamental questions: Who chooses? How do we change? What remains?

Artistic cooperation within the framework of the Poland-Romania Cultural Season 2024-2025

The presentation of the Polish performance at Festivalului Național de Teatru 2025 in Bucharest is part of the Poland-Romania Cultural Season 2024-2025. This is a unique initiative aimed at deepening cultural cooperation between the two countries. The entire programme, running from June 2024 to November 2025, is organised jointly by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, with the support of the Polish Institute in Bucharest, the Romanian Ministry of Culture, and the Romanian Cultural Institute.

Under the slogan “We Share a Common Language”, a wide variety of artistic events are presented, including classical music, theatre, visual arts, literature, and design. In 2025, the programme will feature a concert by the Vołosi string quintet on the occasion of Polish–Romanian Solidarity Day, concerts by Polish ensembles during the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest and Jazz in the Park 2025 Festival, theatre performances as part of the News from Poland Festival in Bucharest and International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, an exhibition of photographs by Justyna Mielnikiewicz in Suceava, and presentation of Polish design at the Romanian Design Week in Bucharest. Encouraging a wide audience to discover Polish culture in Romania, the Poland–Romania 2024–2025 Cultural Season offers an exciting journey through diverse forms of art – from traditional to contemporary – bringing our societies closer together and strengthening intercultural dialogue.

 “Toaca” performance in Bucharest, Romania

• The performance is part of Festivalului Național de Teatru 2025

• Date: 18 October 2025

• Time: 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm

• Venue: Bulandra Theatre, “Toma Caragiu” Hall (Strada Jean-Louis Calderon 76A, Bucharest)

• Tickets and more information are available at:  https://fnt.ro/2025/en/

• Dance performance by: Andreea Gavriliu, Mădălina Dan, Ștefan Lupu

  • Zuzanna Majewska (sound design); Michal Stenzel (light direction); Michal Beszczynski, Adriana Cygankiewicz, Dominik Dudek, Dzianis Mandzik, Michal Stenzel, Dariusz Szych (stage design); Ilona Binarsch (costumes); Monika Zembrzycka (production coordination); Production: Polish Dance Theatre – a cultural institution of the Self-Government of the Wielkopolska Province

    • Andrea’s Chapter: Andrea Gavriliu (choreography), Zbigniew Kocięba (assistant director), Claudiu Urse (music), Ana Cazac (masks); Dancers: Alicja Augustynek, Maksymilian Bańdo, Evelyn Blue, Kacper Bożek, Momoko Den, Julia Halka, Julia Hnatów, Patryk Jarczok, Jerzy Kaźmierczak, Zbigniew Kocięba, Daniel Michna, JinWoo NamKung, Sandra Szatan, Emily Wong-Adryanczyk;

    • Mădălina’s Chapter: Mădălina Dan (choreography), Patryk Jarczok (assistant director), Mihaela Michailov (dramaturgical support), Matze / Cristi Stanciu (music and video collage); Dancers: Maksymilian Bańdo, Evelyn Blue, Mateusz Bossy, Julia Hnatów, Patryk Jarczok, Mateusz Krzysiak, Dominik Kupka, Aleksandra Kuś, Daniel Michna;

    • Ștefan’s Chapter: Ștefan Lupu and dancers from the cast of this chapter (choreography), Kacper Bożek and Aleksandra Kuś (assistant directors), Claudiu Urse (music), Silviu Luda (video); Dancers: Alicja Augustynek, Maksymilian Bańdo, Kacper Bożek, Momoko Den, Patryk Jarczok, Jerzy Kaźmierczak, Aleksandra Kuś, Daniel Michna, JinWoo NamKung, Emily Wong-Adryanczyk;