I awoke with a start at 7:30am. Sat in a daze for the next hour or so, until it was time to get showered and head on down for breakfast. We had a bit of trouble getting our group out the door and to the tram stop in a timely fashion, so we were a couple of minutes late for our meeting with President of Wrocław (think Mayor.) He was really hung over and apologetic for his state. Members of the Double Edge troupe joined us. Joanna gave another rousing speech about the Arden2 project. The President pledged his support for the arts and then made his exit while we continued to talk with some of his ministers and staffers.
With the President of Wrocław (in the tan jacket just to the left of the city seal) and his staff along with members of Double Edge Theater.
Views of the rynek from the President's meeting rooms.
We headed over to the Ossolineum (Research Library) for a tour. Asia was hoping that her cousin Adam who works at the facility would conduct the tour, but it given by a very stern lady who did not seem at all thrilled by the prospect of showing us around. We watched a little PowerPoint presentation about the history of the collection and then were shown around a little bit. The library is closed for the whole month of July so there was hardly anyone around. We eventually did get to meet with Asia’s cousin Adam. He showed us around a really nice exhibit about Jan Novak, a well-known Polish reporter. After the tour we headed over to a nearby student cafeteria for a quick bite.
The Ossolineum (Research Library) entrance. Asia with her cousin Adam.
Asia, Alicia, Joanna, Wojciech and I headed over to the Museum of Architecture for a quick tour. We were shown around by a little lady with an amazingly high nasally voice. It made the tour so much fun to listen to her talking about the exhibits. The main exhibit was of Max Berg's Century Hall, completed in 1913 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1813 War of Liberation.
Being toured around the Museum of Architecture.
Raced over to Teatr Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat Theater) for the first of three workshop sessions. Here four members of Hand2Mouth joined us. Grzegorz, one of the directors, came to chat with us briefly before the session started. He quickly dismissed Margaret who was interested in taking the workshop, but concerned about her sprained elbow. Long-time troupe members Anya and Marcien along with Mattieu, a relative newcomer who has been in the group for three years, conducted the workshop. We did a great deal of walking and running to a drumbeat as well as rhythmic exercises in a circle. I was feeling very exhausted at the beginning and did not do so well keeping up with the call and response clapping exercises. Toward the end there was some vocalization but the session was mostly about movement. My feet, spending most of their time in shoes, were heavily blistered where I had been stomping out the pattern of the rhythm. I ended up with a blister on my big toe and another in the center of the ball of the foot. We did several exercises in pairs and it was interesting to see how the group split up. The Hand2Mouth folks stuck together and the people who were roommates in our group paired off. After a couple of rounds this began to loosen up. We ended with a give and take exercise with movement and text. Slowly each group was pulled off to one side to chant and stomp. Eventually Mark from Hand2Mouth and I were left and we continued our strange birdlike rival dance with the encouragement of Mattieu.
At the Teatr Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat Theater) rehearsal space for the first of three days of workshop.
After the workshop we all headed over to a nearby Italian restaurant with the two directors of Teatr Piesn Kozla. Margaret was concerned about the prices of the food and attempted to get a group to go with her to find another restaurant. The Hand2Mouth folks took the opportunity to find something cheaper as well. The rest of us had a rather chaotic meal. The waitress had been on the job for only a couple of days and was not really prepared for a group of our size. Our dishes showed up in fits and starts over the course of the next two hours.
With the President of Wrocław (in the tan jacket just to the left of the city seal) and his staff along with members of Double Edge Theater.
Views of the rynek from the President's meeting rooms.
We headed over to the Ossolineum (Research Library) for a tour. Asia was hoping that her cousin Adam who works at the facility would conduct the tour, but it given by a very stern lady who did not seem at all thrilled by the prospect of showing us around. We watched a little PowerPoint presentation about the history of the collection and then were shown around a little bit. The library is closed for the whole month of July so there was hardly anyone around. We eventually did get to meet with Asia’s cousin Adam. He showed us around a really nice exhibit about Jan Novak, a well-known Polish reporter. After the tour we headed over to a nearby student cafeteria for a quick bite.
The Ossolineum (Research Library) entrance. Asia with her cousin Adam.
Asia, Alicia, Joanna, Wojciech and I headed over to the Museum of Architecture for a quick tour. We were shown around by a little lady with an amazingly high nasally voice. It made the tour so much fun to listen to her talking about the exhibits. The main exhibit was of Max Berg's Century Hall, completed in 1913 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1813 War of Liberation.
Being toured around the Museum of Architecture.
Raced over to Teatr Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat Theater) for the first of three workshop sessions. Here four members of Hand2Mouth joined us. Grzegorz, one of the directors, came to chat with us briefly before the session started. He quickly dismissed Margaret who was interested in taking the workshop, but concerned about her sprained elbow. Long-time troupe members Anya and Marcien along with Mattieu, a relative newcomer who has been in the group for three years, conducted the workshop. We did a great deal of walking and running to a drumbeat as well as rhythmic exercises in a circle. I was feeling very exhausted at the beginning and did not do so well keeping up with the call and response clapping exercises. Toward the end there was some vocalization but the session was mostly about movement. My feet, spending most of their time in shoes, were heavily blistered where I had been stomping out the pattern of the rhythm. I ended up with a blister on my big toe and another in the center of the ball of the foot. We did several exercises in pairs and it was interesting to see how the group split up. The Hand2Mouth folks stuck together and the people who were roommates in our group paired off. After a couple of rounds this began to loosen up. We ended with a give and take exercise with movement and text. Slowly each group was pulled off to one side to chant and stomp. Eventually Mark from Hand2Mouth and I were left and we continued our strange birdlike rival dance with the encouragement of Mattieu.
At the Teatr Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat Theater) rehearsal space for the first of three days of workshop.
After the workshop we all headed over to a nearby Italian restaurant with the two directors of Teatr Piesn Kozla. Margaret was concerned about the prices of the food and attempted to get a group to go with her to find another restaurant. The Hand2Mouth folks took the opportunity to find something cheaper as well. The rest of us had a rather chaotic meal. The waitress had been on the job for only a couple of days and was not really prepared for a group of our size. Our dishes showed up in fits and starts over the course of the next two hours.
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