Glory Game
Choreo: Dominik Więcek
Duration: 60 min
Trigger warnings: Show for viewers over 16 years old. Nudity.
The first modern Olympic Games coincide with the invention of the cinematograph, which completely transformed the way sports are participated in and received. The order of the media gains dominion over the order of sports competitions. The rules and regulations of the Olympic fields are being changed under the camera and the tele-participation of the spectator. Treatments related to the presentation of movement: slowed down and accelerated pace, replays, close-ups, or abrupt changes of viewpoints act on the viewer like an immersive series and have elements of melodrama.
At the center of it all is the body, from which the rules of the game constantly demand more and more. Modern sports impose extreme loads on athletes that exceed the biological capacity of the body. Citus – altius – fortius (faster – higher – stronger).
“You say you want to win in Olympia. However, think through what this entails. You must be obedient, follow your diet, deny yourself cookies, exercise at set times, whether it’s hot or cold. You are not allowed to drink cold water or wine when you want. You should put yourself in the hands of a trainer as if you were entrusting yourself to a doctor. And later, during the competition, and it’s your opponent who will try to blind you, and it’s you who will dislocate your arm, and it’s you who will twist your ankle, and it’s you who will swallow sand and be flogged. And after all this, it may happen that you lose.” (Epictetus. Discourses III.15.2-4)
°°°
The performance “Glory Game” – enthusiastically received in Poland and abroad – is the result of the research project “Sport – through the prism of dance”, for which Dominik Więcek received a 2022 art grant from the City of Warsaw. Starting from the history of the Olympic Games, the artist researched how the approach to the body in sports has changed.
Team
Concept and choreography: Dominik Więcek
Performed by Sticky Fingers Club collective – Daniela Komędera, Dominika Wiak, Dominik Więcek, Monika Witkowska – as well as Natalia Dinges and Piotr Stanek
Dramaturgy supervision: Konrad Kurowski
Stage design: Mateusz Mioduszewski
Costumes: Weronika Wood
Music: Przemek Degórski
Lights directing: Piotr Pieczyński
Premiere
15 December 2023
Reviews and publications
Alicja Stachulska, Oceń mnie, „Didaskalia. Gazeta Teatralna” 2024 nr 179:
Six nude bodies standing on a dance floor strewn with golden sand begin to slowly transform into ancient athletes. In slow motion, from right to left they run in front of each other, exposing their physiques. At first, the sight of naked bodies astonishes, but over time the situation becomes investigative. Slow motion works like a magnifying glass or microscope – the performers allow the audience to watch themselves and their movement closely. The harsh light reflects in the smooth skin and the shock effect flows into a study of an athletic, taut body. This is how “Glory Game” begins at Komuna Warsaw.
The entire text is available here
Dominik Gac, “Przebój”, “Teatr” 2024 nr 2:
Glory Game is a story about visibility. About the narrative of the cameras and the special effects that shape it. About all that we are used to treating as the nature of sports broadcasting. It is, after all, Glory Game about sports. That is, about body discipline and effort, but also about brutal competition – not so much for records and medals, but for attention. The struggle in the stage arena is essentially yet another story about success. Its desire and its cost – in this sense, the new show is an extension of the previous two, especially the debut, in which the artists looked at failure, underachievement and unfulfillment, as well as the venomous pressure that lies in artistic competition. But Glory Game can also be read as a question: is success even possible, and if so, what does it really mean?
The entire text is available here
Kinga Senczyk, “Glory Game – recenzja spektaklu. Let’s watch it in slow motion”, Popkulturowcy.pl:
Glory Game is all about incredibly mesmerizing and perfect movement in almost stillness. The six performers move in slow motion throughout the performance. Completely naked, athletic bodies are reminiscent of the ancient Olympics. Despite the slowed-down pace the muscles are in tension accompanying the titanic work the body does while running. The athletes move across a square-shaped stage strewn with sand, from right to left and back again.
The entire text is available here
Bio
Dominik Więcek is a dancer, choreographer, performer, movement director, but also a fashion photographer and stylist. His works are characterized by lightness of form, balancing on the intersection of arts and theatrical genres and playing with his own image.
He graduated from the Faculty of Dance Theater in Bytom (a branch of the Cracow Academy of Theater Arts), and was a scholarship holder at the Folkwang Universität der Kunste in Essen. He has performed at the Polish Dance Theater in Poznań, the Cracow Dance Theater (including Nesting, based on a concept by Israeli choreographer Idan Cohen, 2015) and the Grand Theater-National Opera (in Halka, directed by Mariusz Treliński, and María de Buenos Aires, directed by Wojciech Faruga).
He was born in Germany. As part of the Tanzrecherche NRW 2021 residency fellowship, he worked on an autobiographical project called The-Spiral. The question “What kind of artist would I be if I grew up in Germany?” then led him to the solo performance Café Müller. In it, he referred to Pina Bausch’s legendary performance, and described his version as “fan fiction.”
To work on Glory Game, he invited the Sticky Fingers Club collective, which he co-founded with Dance Theater faculty alumni and graduates in Bytom.
Co-financing
The event is co-financed by the Warsaw City Hall as part of the project Komuna Warszawa – Social Institution of Culture.
