My Body – My Place – My Music

We will engage in a movement practice, which involves playing with movement, interacting with others, searching for softness in movement, building bodily awareness.

No workout accessories are needed, just loose-fitting clothing and comfortable shoes. No physical fitness is required, just an open mind, a willingness to play and of course good health – injuries are a medical contraindication to movement. Each of the eight sessions will end with silence accompanied by live music performed by Sinfonia Varsovia instrumentalists.

Bring your own mat and a light blanket if you need one… enjoy your body in motion.

Known from the Rio Carnaval, batucada is loved for its samba energy, the spectacular display of a large group of percussionists, and the joy of playing, for which no professional instrumental skills are needed. All instruments, including surdos (bass drums), caixas (snare drums), agogô (bells), chocalho, tamborim, repinique, and rattles are meant to be played in motion. During our 90-minute meetings with Miki Wielecki, the easy rhythms played by the sections will be transformed into impressive pieces to be performed at the end. Instruments will be available for up to 35 people.

Body percussion is the practice of using your body as a percussion instrument. Shifting between percussion and dance and using a variety of sounds like stomping, clapping, snapping, and patting, we will create a wide range of rhythms from the simplest to the most complex ones, as well as choreographed movement sequences. In our project, we start with practicing coordination, memory, mental clarity, speed, and sense of rhythm. The workshop is about 90 minutes long. No preparation nor instrument is required. The workshop will be led by Miki Wielecki. Group of active participants: 35 people.

Collective musicking with the use of marimbas and balafons is a tradition in some regions of Africa and Central America. The players are divided into sections and undertake easy tasks that add up to an impressive whole. In diatonic marimbas, the bars correspond to white keys on a piano. For the purposes of our meetings, Miki Wielecki built instruments from materials purchased at a builder’s supply – they were designed and tuned in accordance with the physics of sound. Group of active participants: 32 people.

Join us for five vocal workshops led by Justyna Jary – a Warsaw-based artist, vocalist, and actress. Each evening will include movement, breathing, and articulation exercises as well as collective musicking around one shared theme. Justyna will be joined by an improvising instrumentalist who will sing a song at the end of each meeting. Justyna Jary has extensive experience in working with amateurs, discovering and unleashing the human voice, and encouraging people to collective singing. We invite both singers and those who do not believe in their strength and voice.