26/09—03/10/2025
festival
Crossroads 2025
- The subtitle of the 28th edition of the festival is "Aquarius’ Age Art at the Crossroads of Cultures." It refers to one of the twelve astrological ages in which humanity currently finds itself.
- We are observing an intensification of phenomena associated with the Aquarius Age, such as changes in attitudes toward nature. The distinguished American choreographer and dancer Carolyn Carlson, who uniquely blends motifs from Eastern and Western cultures, has been invited to participate in the festival. Kasai is an outstanding butō dancer considered one of the pioneers of an art born of rebellion against traditional Japanese culture and the expansion of American popular culture. The performances presented at the festival express the state of human identity in times of conflict and cultural tension in a time of conflict and cultural tension between the worlds of East and West, North and South.
- Janusz Marek
- For the first time, Polish audiences will not only be able to watch a performance by the legendary Japanese master, Akira Kasai, but also—thanks to an exhibition of unique photographs and lectures by Professor Takashi Morishita of Keio University—to understand the broader context and delve into the origins of butō. This is a unique opportunity not only for connoisseurs of this art but also for anyone interested in contemporary performing arts, Japanese culture and creative connections between East and West.
- Akira Kasai belongs to the first generation of butō dancers. During his long life, he developed his own unique style, combining the wildness of the sensual Japanese butō of the 1960s with the eurhythmy that inspired him during his stay in Germany. A dancer and philosopher, his performances allow audiences to enter not only a world of his emotions but also pose universal questions that resonate with everyone.
- In Dancing Chopin, the fight will unfold between the sacred and the profane, the unattainable and the seemingly familiar - an opposition that continually questions the meaning of one's own existence.
- Why Chopin? Akira Kasai answers: "There is something in Chopin's piano works that endlessly attracts and delights me. Something I long to reach, but the more I yearn for it, the further I drift from his music. My ten fingers will never wrest a work of Chopin from the piano - they cannot”.
- Anita Zdrojewska
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