How the project came about

Jane writes:

In 2010, when I was in Warsaw, teaching in Sylwia Majewska's wonderful summer festival "Korowod", I was given a new "translator" for the classes. I was impressed by Konrad Przybycień's enthusiasm and dancing (not to mention his excellent English), and we began to talk about arranging a course for the Wrocław University Early Dance Group, which Konrad was running.

During this first Wrocław course, I began recognise a fellow-victim: Konrad was bitten by the same obsession as myself - to bring the passions of the past to life on the stage. Struck also by the vitality and determination of the group, and attracted by the interest shown by University students, I decided that here was the ideal situation for one of the occasional Masque re-creation projects which I present through Timedance Hansa.

Konrad suggested we should try to interest the English Department of the University and we met with Professor Ewa Kębłowska-Ławniczak. She thought a University course on the Stuart Masque, taught by me, would be a possibility, and that within the course we could offer University students the chance to perform some of this very special English drama. Consequently, slightly stunned MA students this autumn have been asked to push back desks, to take off shoes - and dance, declaim and gesture! They have responded with commendable enthusiasm.

Konrad suggested we ask Magda Garbacz (graduate of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław) to be our Music Director. A talented baroque violinist and music director, Magda declared herself thrilled to participate; we declared ourselves thrilled to have her!

So, throughout the autumn of 2012, I have been working with all these people and groups. In addition, we have found new dancers and speakers by holding auditions, so we have at present a group of 31 dancers, 7 speakers, 9 musicians and 2 singers. Our first venture is a concert of Scenes from the Masque, on January 19th 2013, and our second, in May, will be a complete performance of one of Thomas Campion's wedding masques, where we also hope to present guest artists from Vilnius, Tartu and Stockholm.

These projects, bringing together performers from different disciplines and different countries to re-create a rare work of art, are the essence of what Timedance Hansa promotes, and I feel I am privileged to be able to present the next one in Wrocław.

So I would like to say thank you to Sylvia, for introducing me to Konrad; to Magda, for willingly taking on a great workload; and especially to Ewa Kębłowska-Ławniczak, Marek Kuźniak and the Philology Department of Wroclaw University for their support. And to Konrad, for believing it could happen!