In the performance *Choreographic Self-Portrait*, Maria Stokłosa explores a series of movements and performative inspirations and shares her private archive of dreams and texts. The artist builds the performance’s dramaturgy in relation to the audience—it unfolds thanks to and in response to the viewers present.

*Choreographic Self-Portrait* combines Maria Stokłosa’s analytical approach to improvisation in dance with choreographic work on various female figures—their embodiment and destabilization. Here, dancing becomes an intense way of perceiving oneself and one’s surroundings, of remaining in relation to one’s own body, memory, and emotions. It is also a medium that allows one to share one’s sensitivity to the world—both seriously and with a daring sense of humor.

I was in London. I had an old Nokia and was trying to call Eina and Mishka. I was riding in something that was part armchair, part taxi with the meter running. I was driving through unfamiliar streets and sometimes through hotel hallways. In one of those hallways, someone was listening to Ukrainian music and crying. A homeless man, lying on the street under a blanket with a cold, got that armchair from me. He was happy and suggested that I lie down next to him.

During my internship, I keep coming back to the same questions about what dance is, how I define it, and what I’m looking for in it. Is dance about having more control over your body? I like dance when there’s a lot of movement in it. I often find myself making uncontrolled gestures, reminiscent of hiccups and “floppiness”; I wonder if these qualities are part of my aesthetic, or if their purpose is to hide the fact that I’m ashamed to dance.

The performance was created as part of the Central Dance Stage series, which invites renowned Polish choreographers to share their stories, practices, or fantasies in any form they choose. 

Choreographer, dancer, and president of the Burdąg/Centrum w Ruchu Foundation. She creates performances in the field of experimental choreography, treating dance as an artistic, intellectual, and social practice that extends beyond the stage. She engages others in creative processes, combining art, research, and education. For over a decade, she has been working to promote the development of contemporary dance as a member of the Centrum w Ruchu collective and as the leader of the “Choreography at Centrum” course. Centrum’s work has been recognized with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Award (2024) and the Konstanty Puzyna Award (2026). She is the creator of solo performances, including *Starting from Action* and *A Sense of Fragmentation*, as well as group works, including *Compositions of the Present*, *Composed Reality*, *The Audience*, and *Museum of Bodies*. She is a graduate of the SNDO in Amsterdam, the London Contemporary Dance School, and the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw.

A collective of individuals involved in contemporary choreography and the performing arts, founded on the initiative of the Burdąg Foundation in March 2012. It was a response to the lack of choreographic centers in Poland where one could create performances, conduct workshops, or develop artistic work in other ways. A dozen or so choreographers decided to join forces to bring about change from the grassroots level. They created a space for rehearsals, workshops, performances, and discussions with audiences. For 13 years, in Warsaw’s Wawer district, they ran, among other things, original educational programs such as the experimental choreography course “Choreography at the Center,” presentations of works-in-progress, and many others.

Maria Stokłosa