"The festival aims to showcase the richness and diversity of performing art forms that fall under the umbrella of "dance theatre'. In each successive edition, we explore whether the boundaries between nature and culture are objectively real or simply human inventions. How do we, humans, construct divisions that nature itself doesn't recognise? To what extent can and should we challenge these boundaries in a world defined by instability and crises? Where does the limit of our humanity lie?", asks Anna Koczorowska of the Polish Dance Theatre. "The participating companies interpret this theme in multiple ways: some probe the limits of the human body, moving between creation and repetition ("Something is Resisting"), others interrogate the interplay among intuition, instinct, and intellect ("Hekate"), while others yet merge Nature and Culture, rebirth and return, crafting a metaphor for life as a continuous flow ("4 Seasons")," further remarks Koczorowska. 

This year's festival kicks off with the Polish Dance Theatre, its host, presenting "Toaca", a work created for the Romania-Poland Cultural Season and premiered in 2024. What is it about? Choreographer Andrea Gavriliu shared her vision before the curtain rose: "Toaca brings together three perspectives on Romania in a single contemporary dance performance. It's a triptych of styles, visions, aesthetics, and emotions [...]. I played with contrasts that are common in Romanian culture and society: religious zeal alongside pagan superstition. This choice grew from the toaca (semantron), an instrument suggested for the performance by Polish Dance Theatre director Iwona Pasińska. The semantron and bells are the only instruments approved by the Romanian Orthodox Church, used to mark the start of religious ceremonies. The semantron is fairly rare, not an instrument you would encounter in every church. It is typically heard in monasteries tucked away in remote regions where it is played by monks and nuns."

Following this, Living Space Theatre and the Olga Roriz Company present "Something is Resisting", while Bodytalk and Japanese artists offer three performances: "Talk to You", "Self, Reality", "My 4 Yearsand 4 Seasons". In "Something is Resisting", "the body is a theatre for conflicting forces: it obeys and resists, repeats and creates, tires and refuses to yield". "Talk to You" "unfolds without a musical score, inviting the audience to closely observe the immediacy of physical presence"."Self, Reality""questions the memories we unconsciously construct and the selves they shape", while "My 4 Years and 4 Seasons" "conveys a universal longing to be loved and understood".

Also featured is the Central Europe Dance Theatre with their production "4 Seasons", choreographed by Maciej Kuźmiński, which, according to press releases, signals a bold new direction in his work. "This novelty lies primarily in the way the drama and structure of the performance are constructed. I aim to create works as constantly evolving, fluid choreographic images. Rather than stopping at clearly separated scenes, dance moves through successive phases transforming gradually, akin to Steve Reich's music that relies on phasing techniques. Movement sequences loop, repeat, and merge into a hypnotic flow of images and dance. This makes the performance highly demanding for the performers. Dancers memorise and execute a vast number of sequences, often synchronised. The choreography's variable rhythmic patterns, phrases of five, seven, eight or twelve beats, add further performance challenges. Mastering this movement alone requires virtuosity and utmost precision. The performance is also physically demanding as the dancers remain on stage almost the entire time in an uninterrupted flow of motion. While I have worked with such structures before, 4 Seasons is my first full-scale production based entirely on this concept," reveals Kuźmiński.

What is "4 Seasons" about? "I mainly explore the cyclical nature of life. Here, the seasons stand in for human existence: from birth and the emergence of community to maturity and the work that the passage of time demands, to reflection and departure, flowing naturally into return, renewal, and infinity. I seek to view life from a broad, philosophical perspective, as constant movement, transformation and the recurring cycle of existence. The show's narrative guides one through the successive stages of community life, where nature and culture remain in continuous dialogue. Folk traditions are woven in as living, breathing elements of human and community culture, carrying the rhythms of life, the transitions between its stages, and the sense of belonging to a greater whole, to community, nature and time", notes Kuźmiński. One part of the performance, "Spring", draws entirely on Hungarian folk dance, borrowing its energy and movement patterns. "In the performance, it appears as an echo of collective cultural memory, woven into the cycle of birth, maturation, socialisation, and passing," he explains.

Kuźmiński's "4 Seasons" is not a direct reinterpretation of Vivaldi. Rather, the title acts as a springboard for contemplating the seasons as a universal rhythm of nature and culture. "The musical layer draws on compositions by Steve Reich, providing a framework for a choreographic structure built on process, repetition, and subtle transformations. The performance also introduces a central spirit figure, inspired by the Slavic goddess Żywia who accompanies people throughout the cycle of life, from birth to death, to the symbolic moment of rebirth", explains the artist.

Gosia Mielech, in her turn, presents her "Hekate", drawing inspiration from Heraclitus's belief that "the only constant in life is change'. "Through its choreography, "Hecate" explores intuition, that quiet voice that emerges out of the chaos of change, uncertainty, and crossroads. The performance turns the body into a meeting place for rational intellect and wild instinct, planning and impulse, light and the darkness of the unknown. Hekate, the Greek goddess of thresholds and the guardian of transformation, becomes a reflection of my own journey, a guide for those moments when logic fades and trust in one's inner voice is vital," explains Mielech.

Why see it? "Hekate is not meant to be understood intellectually, but experienced with the whole body, as a story of courage, letting go, surrender and transformation, with resonates with each of us in times of crisis or renewal. In a world oversaturated with rationality, this ritual of dance, light and sound reawakens intuition and leaves us asking: what if our inner voice is the path to freedom?", he adds.

Also appearing on stage, first time in Poland, are Kang-san Lee, Min-seong Seo (who will also offer a Korean dance workshop) and the groups Tongmuyong / Hae-eo-hwa / Keunsoriro from "From Ritual to Rhythm". All these performances are tied to the annual SAI Dance Festival in Tokyo, which features a competition for debuting artists and appearances by former winners. Although the shows in Poznań may not share a common theme, they demonstrate a wide range of takes on Asian dance movements.

A staple of the festival is National Dance, scheduled for 29 April, International Dance Day. "The event celebrates the most primal role of dance: to unite and strengthen communities. As of 2026, National Dance is going international as it embraces a range of multicultural influences and dance traditions. Alongside song and dance ensembles performing the polonaise, guests from Korea will join in to interpret the Polish national dance through their own cultural perspectives and sensibilities," announces Koczorowska.

Monika Nawrocka-Leśnik

translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski

The International Dance Theatre Festival "Borders of Nature - Borders of Culture"
Polski Teatr Tańca (Polish Dance Theatre), 24-29 April
more: ptt-poznan.pl

© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2026