Anita Wach

Anita Wach Dancer, Choreographer, Dance Teacher, Performer & Yoga Instructor

Anita Wach (born in 1974, Kielce, Poland) started dancing professionally at the Dance Theatre Kielce - the town of her birth.

● Born: Kielce, Poland.

● Lives: Ljubljana, Slovenia.

● Works: at Tuka Wach.

● Works: at VIA NEGATIVA.

Education and early career : In 1996 she completed the qualification course for contemporary dance instructors at the Centre for Cultural Promotion in Warsaw and became a member of the first contemporary dance collective in Poland, Silesian Dance Theatre, with which she performed at numerous venues across Europe and the USA between 1996 and 2003: in New York (Hunter College, The Theatre Kitchen), Philadelphia (Swarthmore College), Great Britain, France (Avignon), Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany. In 2001 she received a professional dancer certificate from the Polish Actors Association. In 2004 she started working with Bretoncaffe Theatre in Warsaw, soon also as a choreographer.

Her first solo project Inch 1,5 (2006) received wide critical acclaim and was included in the 2008 Polish Dance Platform. Besides developing solo and collaborative projects, she also worked with some of the leading Polish choreographers, such as Ramona Nagabczynska, Tomasz Bazan, Tomasz Wygoda, and theatre directors, such as Natalia Korczakowska, Agnieszka Lipiec Wroblewska, Wawrzyniec Kostrzewski in the productions of Teatr Dramatyczny in Teatr Polski (Warsaw).

Going international : As a dancer, choreographer and performer, Anita has been part of numerous international projects: the interdisciplinary project KonglomeArt (Bytom – Berlin 2003; collaboration with composer Dominik Strycharski, actor Sambor Dudzinski and visual artist Leszek Blyszczynski), Polish-German project Skarbek (choreography Tomasz Wygoda; German premiere at the Volksbuhne Theatre, 2005); Polish-Israeli projects Blind Date and Dance & Video (Tel Aviv, 2008), international project Casablanca Therapy (directed by Bojan Jablanovec; DNA – Development of New Art, Prague, 2010).

Magdalena Tuka : Since 2011 Anita Wach has been collaborating with former actress of the Warsaw-based Studio Teatralne, Magda Tuka. The duo presented the work-in-progress W/RESTLESS directed by Marcin Cecko at the 10th International Contemporary Dance Festival Body/Mind in Warsaw in 2011. Inspired by female wrestling, the piece was premiered in the spring of 2012 at the Warsaw Dance Scene. In 2013 Studio Teatralne hosted the premiere of the pair’s another project – Cold Feet [Zimne stopy]. The piece draws inspiration on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, as well as on a picture of a bride, Li Wan [attempting suicide], published in May 2011 in the Sun; it is also inspired by the script’s author’s personal experiences. The production combines movement and dance with visual art and text. Wach performs the role of a DJ. The production was presented in Wrocław at the 9th Mandala Performance Festival (2013).

Performing artist with 'Via Negativa' : She has been working closely with the Ljubljana-based international platform of contemporary performing arts 'Via Negativa' as dancer, performer and choreographer. Her solo performance Oops (2012) and the collective creation The Ninth (2016), both produced by Via Negativa, were selected for the Polish Dance Platform in 2012 and 2017 respectively. Anita has co-created over 10 projects with Via Negativa, which were met with critical acclaim at numerous international and Slovenian festivals.

Projects directed by Bojan Jablanovec : ‘Casablanca Therapy’ (2010), ‘Shame’ (2011), ‘Just the beginning’ (2012), ‘So on and so forth’ (2014), ‘365 Falls’ (2018) and as choreographer in: solo ‘Oops’ (coproduction with Modul Dance, 2011), solo ‘100 toasts’ (2015), group piece ‘The Ninth’ (choreographic supervision, 2016) and ‘Sorry’ (2018). Performer in ‘Naked Life’ by Olja Grubić (2019). Movement consultant in performance ‘Rib Cage’ by Anja Novak.

Perfect and unique technique : She was recognized by dance critics as the best dancer of 2008 (survey by NowyTaniec.PL). This award was no accident: Wach is known for her perfect and unique dance technique, but also for her very strong stage personality. Her presence and engagement is hard to miss: either when she takes part in group projects – such as improvisation cycle Randka w ciemno (Blind drag) in Stary Browar, Poznań – or she presents her solos. Her movement and body, constantly oscillating between fluidity, suppleness, relaxation and tension, breaking, curving and deformation are not easily to classify, what makes her dance mulit-dimentional for audience. In Inch 1.5 she struggles with her body which seems to fight for its subjectivity in a series of unpredictable movements and hunches. Unpredictability as well as combination of isolation and flow, make Wach one of the most interesting dance artists in Poland.

She has been living in Ljubljana since 2019.