10th anniversary of Krakow Choreographic Centre
In 2024, the Krakow Choreographic Centre celebrates its 10th anniversary. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the birthday picnic during the 4th edition of the Krakow Dance Festival. It was an incredibly emotional moment for us, and we are delighted to have shared it with so many people connected to KCC.
It is impossible for us to mention here by name all of the people who have had a real impact on the activity of the KCC. However, we would like to express our gratitude to all the staff of the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre – the management, the HR and accounting teams, those involved in ticket sales, marketing, administration, technical support, and the maintenance of the green spaces around NHCC. Our thanks also go to the artists, photographers, graphic designers, filmmakers, managers, ticket attendants, grant decision-makers, educators, and participants of classes, workshops, and other meetings with whom we have created or continue to co-create this place.
To celebrate our anniversary, we published the catalog Fluidity, Collectivity, Feminism. The 10th Anniversary of the Krakow Choreographic Centre, in which we share what currently captures our interest and informs our strategic directions. Inside, you will also find collages created by the KCC collective, excerpts from interviews, and other references to our ongoing activities.
WHAT DO WE DO? WHAT DRIVES US?
The Krakow Choreographic Centre is a space dedicated to engaging with dance and choreography across creative, educational, research, and audience-oriented domains. Established in 2014, KCC has been an integral part of the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre since its inception. The key activities of KCC include:
- Organizing the Krakow Dance Festival (held annually);
- Hosting artistic residencies;
- Producing performances and shows;
- Showcasing intriguing choreographic phenomena and research dedicated to them (presentations of works and work-in-progress pieces, “Dance in Process,” the Interdisciplinary Academic Conference, online lectures);
- Initiating and partnering in Polish and international projects (e.g., IcoDaCo, The Voice of Seniors, GPS);
- Conducting ongoing educational programs for people of all ages and levels of experience;
- Supporting local creative initiatives (Body Laboratory, Mothers in Motion);
- Building a sense of community and fostering shared experiences (audience-artist discussions, dance jams, talks).
The goals of the Krakow Choreographic Centre revolve around promoting choreography in its diverse forms, strengthening its image as an autonomous part of culture, and supporting dance artists from Poland and abroad. KCC closely observes current trends in dance and choreography, with its overarching aim being to create a space for inspiration and exchange.
The Krakow Choreographic Centre continually explores its identity, reassesses its activities, and strives to remain a vigilant observer of changes within the dance community and the surrounding reality. It provides a platform for realizing new ideas, initiates its own projects, and inspires action. Fearless in its approach to experimentation, KCC is dedicated to fostering a sense of community and connection within the realms of movement, dance, and choreography.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF KCC
The Krakow Choreographic Centre is a division of the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre, established in 2014 at the initiative of Eryk Makohon, head of the Krakow Dance Theatre. The founding team of the Krakow Choreographic Centre included Eryk Makohon, Paweł Łyskawa, Agata Moląg, Monika Węgrzynowicz, and Marta Wołowiec.
Even before the creation of KCC, the Theatre had been conducting artistic, educational, impresario, and organizational activities within the Nowa Huta Cultural Centre. Examples of these initiatives include the SPACER Contemporary Dance Festival and the 3…2…1…DANCE! Choreographic Competition. Additionally, the repertoire of recurring contemporary dance events featured the BalletOFFFestival, which emphasized artistic residencies.
In 2015, Agata Moląg took over as head of the Krakow Choreographic Centre. Around the Centre Group creative collective was also established, made up of Agata Moląg, Monika Węgrzynowicz, and Marta Wołowiec, who invited independent creators to collaborate on various projects.
The establishment of the Polish Dance Network in 2017 provided the Krakow Choreographic Centre with opportunities for artistic exchange and organizational cooperation with institutions supporting dance art across Poland.
In 2018, KCC significantly expanded its international collaboration by becoming a partner in the International Contemporary Dance Collective (iCoDaCo), which received support from the European Union’s Creative Europe program. The iCoDaCo 2018–2020 project emphasized a democratic model of collaboration based on consensus, trust, and transparency, applying these principles to both artistic and production processes.
Since the end of 2018, the Krakow Choreographic Centre was led by Marta Wołowiec. Together with Monika Węgrzynowicz and Agnieszka Barańska-Kozik, combined the KCC’s cyclical events into one big festival,bringing the Krakow Dance Festival to life in 2020. Its first edition was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic.
Currently, the Krakow Choreographic Centre is collectively managed by five women — dancers, choreographers, performers, producers, curators, managers, audience members, thinkers, researchers, partners, wives, mothers, and fiancées: Agnieszka Barańska-Kozik, Karolina Graca, Aleksandra Honza, Monika Węgrzynowicz, and Dominika Wiak.
In October 2024, Monika Szpunar joined the team.
Photo: Klaudyna Schubert/Katarzyna Machniewicz/Beatrycze Bem/Robert Siwek
Catalog’s desing and editing: Zofia Karpowicz
