The performance is inspired by the Japanese theater – the popular female revue – Takarazuka, functioning in the city of the same name for almost a hundred years. Theater’s specificity and originality, in which all the roles, both male and female, are played by women, have become the starting point for reflections on the theatricality of gender, the construction of cultural gender and the stereotypical perception of gender by society. Candidates for “takarasienne” prepare for playing male and female roles in a special school for two years. They learn kata, which is grammatical forms, behaviors, gestures and facial expressions characteristic of a given gender. For the creators of the show, however, an interesting issue is the role played by women. The Takarazuka Theater seems to perfectly confirm Simone de Beauvoir’s thesis: “we are not born women – we become ones”.
The performance in its original version (2010) focused on issues related to gender performativity, stretching the axis of exploration between the Eurocentric culture of the West and the Far Eastern cultural context. Almost thirteen years after the premiere of the first version of the performance, it was enough for the perspective of the analysis to be reduced to the local context of Polish social changes. The camp evoked in the performance has lost its original aesthetic function, becoming a representation of regression in the discussion on social roles, femininity and masculinity. The strength of women, forced to fight for the basis of the law, has become a sad symbol of Poland in the second decade of the 21st century.
The performance was presented in the finals of THE BEST OFF competition for the best independent theater performance.
“TAKARAZUKA Camp” – October 24 at the KTO Theatre
A meeting with creators will be held after the performance.
Tickets >>> link
The Krakow Dance Theater has been operating for 27 years. It is recognizable and appreciated in the city, in the country and abroad. With its versatile artistic, educational and impresario activity, it stimulates local communities and builds a dance environment. It organizes events, cyclical and one-off, of a participatory nature, involving all social groups. As a dance theater, it travels around the region, Poland and Europe. It educates hundreds of dancers, amateurs and professionals. The performances of the Theatre, shown in partner institutions, as well as in squares and streets, were watched by tens of thousands of spectators. For 27 years of activity, it has created its own model of functioning based on cooperation and energy exchange, both with artists and local communities. The Theatre leaders, referring to ecology and the idea of “zero waste” in the context of conducting cultural activities, regularly support young artists, providing tools they have developed (such as access to a dance studio, promotional activities, legal form, etc.) enabling creative activities.
… the creators included much more than just a reflection on the construction of gender stereotypes. Power relations between stronger and weaker subjects are noticeable (in this case, the normative society over the female enclave and men over women), the suppression of individuality, forcing to copy patterns and the inability to exit the existing gender hierarchy defined by the binary opposition…
Jarosław Pindor, In the mirror of distant culture, Teatralia
Trailer >>> link
“TAKARAZUKA Camp”
direction & choreography: Eryk Makohon
scenography & costumes: Eryk Makohon
visage: Ewa Skoczeń – Citko
starring: Agnieszka Bednarz-Tyran, Renata Bobel, Natalia Dinges, Agnieszka Kramarz, Paweł Łyskawa, Patrycja Marszałek, Natalia Myczewska, Magda Targosz
lighting design: Michał Wawrzyniak
sound engineer: Leszek Oddzieniec
producer: Krakow Dance Theater Association
updated version premiere: June 16, 2019
The project is co-financed by the City of Krakow.
