SPACE AND CHOREOGRAPHY

Hello!

We present our next educational event dedicated to choreographers, dancers, actors and directors working with movement and dance. This one-day training will be devoted to space as a tool for choreographic, performative and dramaturgical work. The workshop consists of two complementary parts that investigate the same topic from two different perspectives:

Part I – MOVEMENT TOOLKIT

• analytical, logical and tool-based approach
• led by: Aga Konopka

Part II – MENTAL IMAGES

• metaphorical and imaginative approach, developing movement creativity
• led by: Anna Sawicka-Hodun

Both parts explore the theme of space, showing how to consciously design movement both through structure and analysis, and through work with imagination and imagery.

THE MEANING OF SPACE IN CREATIVE WORK Awareness of how space affects the body and the psyche is one of the key tools for a choreographer and performer. The spatial arrangement of the stage directly influences the audience’s physiological reactions — it changes levels of tension, direction of attention, sense of safety, intensity of emotions and the way scenic events are interpreted.

Through conscious work with space, the choreographer designs the spectator’s perceptual experience — the atmosphere of the scene, the emotional tempo of the performance and the meanings told through movement. Space then becomes the architecture of dramaturgy, and decisions about trajectories, distance and orientation of bodies affect the viewer even before they are read on an intellectual level.

PART I: SPACE – MOVEMENT TOOLKIT

The first part of the workshop will be devoted to the SPACE component inspired by the Laban-Bartenieff Movement System. Rudolf Laban treated space as an order organizing movement — a geometric and relational structure through which the body can consciously compose trajectories, directions and stage relations. His approach to space (Space Harmony) assumed that movement is subject to certain laws of orientation, similar to how music is subject to tonal structure, and that consciously operating with these principles allows the creation of clear movement dramaturgy.

During the work we will address, among others:

• space as a compositional structure of choreography
• distance on stage and its influence on dramaturgical tension
• directions of movement and their symbolic meaning
• levels of space (low, middle, high)
• trajectories and paths of movement in space
• kinesphere and spatial relations between performers
• zones of reach (near / mid / far reach)

We will extend this work into additional contexts:

• how space affects the arousal level of the nervous system, attention concentration and the feeling of tension or safety
• how distance between bodies (proxemics) builds relations of power, intimacy, conflict and community
• how the scale, openness or density of space shape the emotional reception of the scene
• how the organization of space and movement trajectories influence the perception of time, dynamics and dramaturgical tension

PART II: MENTAL IMAGES – IMAGINED SPACE

The second part of the workshop develops the topic of space through work with imagination, metaphor and mental imagery.

Working with mental images is a creative method that involves activating spatial, sensory and emotional imaginings that directly influence the organization of bodily movement. Instead of starting the process from technique or form, the performer activates an image — a situation, matter, state or metaphor — and the body responds to it spontaneously, creating movement qualities that are more organic, individual and meaningful.

Participants will explore how spatial images and imaginative qualities influence the way movement is organized, bodily expression and the creative process. This part shows how space can be not only a compositional structure but also a source of inspiration, dramaturgy and an individual movement language.

Time and place:
Date: 28.03.2026
Hours: 10:45–18:00
Place: Studio 42, ul. Twarda 42, Warsaw

Registration:

https://forms.gle/8Mn2rSdy7cRmohr4A

Price: 700 zł. Possibility of payment in installments. More information in the reply email.

Schedule:

• 10:45–13:45 - Movement Toolkit
• 13:45–15:15 - lunch break
• 15:15–18:00 - Mental Images

Leaders:

Movement Direction – a choreographic-educational duo created by Aga Konopka and Anna Sawicka-Hodun, operating since 2016 at the intersection of stage dance, education and interdisciplinary projects. The creators combine stage experience, movement direction and pedagogical activity, carrying out theatre, film and music projects as well as original training programs for dancers, choreographers and performers. Their practice is based on research work, reflection on movement as a form of storytelling and creating tools supporting conscious creative processes.

See you!