ZAMEK Culture Centre

What counts in the game of vers-U-s is (non)co-being and (non)co-operation. A place where the contrasts are (un)blurred. Winning, losing, dialogue.

Me versus You,

Us versus You,

You versus Us,

You versus all the others,

Me versus I. 

The game of me vers-U-s are two bodies in space. Each different. Alien. How do they influence each other? Do they decide their own path? What defines them? What causes them to move? Motion? Emotion? Their environment? The space?

Attraction, distancing, repulsion.

Volatile, contradictory energies.

Different perceptions, seeing.

Look, this is my body!

The space of the stage—the locus of a peculiar social lens—has the capacity to prompt social and artistic discourse in real terms. The presence of non-normative bodies in itself harbours revolutionary and avant-garde potential; here, phenomena which are most often kept hidden are revealed in the spotlight. Confronting them is unavoidable. This generates a substantial performative charge, which Żeglicka and Kurjata explore, using the tools of disabled and queer studies.

The performance was created in 2022 in the course their artistic residency at ZAMEK Cultural Centre.

Suggested audience age: 16+. The performance includes scenes of nudity, as well as lights and sounds that may cause discomfort.

Concept and choreography: Katarzyna Żeglicka, Antek Kurjata

Costumes: Agnieszka Ostrowska

Choreographic consultation: Justyna Wielgus

Music: Witold Oleszak, Ostap Mańko

Audiodescription: Barbara Pasterak

Translation into Polish Sign Language: Joanna Mitschke

Katarzyna Żeglicka (she/her) – genderqueer and crip activist, performer and cultural animator; certified self-defence and assertiveness trainer for women and girls – WenDo; theatre educator. She is also a job coach and career counsellor. Graduate of the School for Leaders of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation. Completed a one-year course in stage choreography under supervision of Iwona Olszowska. In 2020 a scholarship holder of the Kraków "Kultura Odporna" (Resilient Culture) programme. Participant of the Winter Artist Exchange Ponderosa residency in Germany. This year she is a resident of Zamek Culture Centre in Poznań, where together with Antek Kurjata she is working on a project "Kontra-s-Ty". She gained her artistic qualifications by participating in workshops and laboratories in Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy. She has been learning dance from Zofia Noworól, Rafał Urbacki, Caroline Bowditch, Justyna Wielgus (Teatr 21), David Toole, Claire Cunningham, Marc Brew and Adam Benjamin, among others. Winner of the Europe Beyond Access award for her étude "Resonance of Contrast". She has been working with people experiencing discrimination and violence in Poland and abroad for 20 years. She runs workshops on anti-discrimination and violence, empowerment, accessibility and body work. She cooperates with cultural and higher education institutions and NGOs. She is a member of the Artykuł 6 group operating for the benefit of disabled women. She co-founded the no longer existing feminist association Strefa Wenus z Milo (Venus de Milo Zone), which works on behalf of women with disabilities. On Radio Kapitał, she hosts a programme called "Przestrzeń Krzyku" (Scream Space).

Antek Kurjata is an actor, dancer, educator, and occupational therapy instructor. Graduated in MA Acting from the Manchester Metropolitan University, studied with the Song of the Goat Theatre in Wrocław and obtained the Diploma in Physical Theatre Practice at the  Adam Smith College in Scotland. Kurjata has attended multiple theatre and dance workshops and contributed in numerous performances in Poland and abroad, including: Requiemaszyna by Marta Górnicka, delayScape by Monika Smekot, Natura Morte by the Russian Derevo Group, Close by Alicja Morawska Rubczak, or Tranquillo directed and choreographed by Janusz Orlik. He has also worked with Moon Fool Company (UK) and Akhe (Russia), Co-founder of the Polish-Scottish Gappad Theatre in Glasgow. Former member of the artistic company Jubilo, which runs projects intended for persons at risk of social exclusion. Educator specializing in movement workshops for children, families and persons with disabilities.