Choreomania

Choreomania is, by definition, “a social phenomenon which involved groups of people dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time, until they collapsed from exhaustion and injuries”. According to researchers, this phenomenon usually surfaced during periods of high social tension - after medieval floods, wars and epidemics. The most famous case of the "dancing plague" was recorded in 1518 in Strasbourg. One hypothesis cites stress as its main cause. No wonder, then, that this event seems to have become newly relevant. I was fascinated by the ritual aspect of dance which it carried within itself, the belief in its transforming abilities and the power that was attributed to it. The simultaneous liberation and fear that are awakened in us by things beyond our control.
The performers immersed themselves in a trance-like dance, together but apart. Like in medieval Strasbourg or in a Sopot silent disco. Their movements are interpreted by voices - intuitive or calculated, morose or ecstatic, whispering or screaming at the top of their lungs.

Dancers:

Sonia Łuczak
Basia Woźniczka
Magdalena Łabędź
Iga Zień
Leszek Barcikowski
Arleta Brzezińska
Agata Śliwa
Anna Rzhevkina
Sonia Witak

Music:

Olga Witkowska
Alicja Lichota
Zuzanna Hertz
Aleks Czajkowska
Małgorzata Krupińska
Paulina Prychożdenko
Emilia Rogelet
Alicja Sadowska
Maja Kalbarczyk