Program
YouTube
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12. October – 24. October 2026
Who was Yanka Rudzka—a dancer and choreographer born in Łódź who left Poland after the war, became a pioneer of modern dance in Brazil, and has largely disappeared from Polish historical records?
Yanka Rudzka (1916–2008) was one of the most fascinating figures in 20th-century Polish modern dance. In prewar Łódź, she helped shape the rapidly developing scene of expressive dance, which became a tool of emancipation for many Jewish female artists—a path to achieving self-determination and transcending traditional social roles. After the war, Rudzka left Poland and never returned. In Salvador (Brazil), she left a lasting mark as a charismatic artist and educator, as well as the founder of Brazil’s first university-level dance institute.
In 2013, Joanna Leśnierowska began rediscovering Rudzka’s story and devoted more than a decade to researching and artistically engaging with it. “Beholding” is the latest chapter in this process—an international collaboration realized jointly by artists from Poland, Brazil, and Germany.
“The Yanka Rudzka Project: Beholding” does not attempt to reconstruct her biography or create yet another portrait of a great artist. Instead, through dance, photography, and film, the project explores the elusive aspects of her story: absences, omissions, interrupted genealogies, and an identity that unfolds across different places, languages, and cultures.
Biographies
Photo: Anna Zielinska
Joanna Leśnierowska—visual dramaturg, choreographer, curator, and spatial composer—works at the intersection of choreography and the visual arts. Since 2016, she has been developing a research-based art project dedicated to the legacy of Yanka Rudzka. Previous stages of the project included “Zaczyn” (2016) and “Wielogłos” (2018).
Photo: Anna Zielinska
Anna Zielińska – a visual artist who works in the fields of conceptual photography, spatial representation and the material traces of emotions. She is a graduate of the Photography programme at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań.
Photo: private
Katarzyna Sitarz—vocal artist, composer, performer, choreographer, and researcher in the fields of voice and movement, working at the intersection of theater, dance, and music. She studied Slavic Studies in Wrocław, “Experimental Physical Performance” at SMASH Berlin, voice at the Lichtenberger Institut, and dance and choreography at Codarts/Rotterdam Dance Academy. She combines work with dreams and the imagination with composition, neurobiology, linguistics, and traditional singing, incorporating these elements into her performances, audio tours, podcasts, and installations.
Photo: Anna Zielinska
Neemias Santana – choreographer, dancer and performer based in Salvador, in the Brazilian state of Bahia. He studied dance at the Federal University of Bahia. His artistic practice evolves through a dialogue between Afro-Brazilian dance traditions, contemporary choreography and somatic practices.
Funding
The residency and Open Studio are taking place in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw as part of the International Dance Alliances project, co-funded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
