Playing with Kantor 2026: France | Gisèle Vienne, Philippe Quesne, Nach

Tadeusz Kantor in three acts on the Seine

Tadeusz Kantor returned to France many times. In the 1970s, he appeared there with his performance “The Dead Class” and caused a true artistic sensation. He made his mark not only on stage, but also, to some extent, influenced French academic and artistic thought. Does his presence still resonate in the work of contemporary artists after all these years? One of the effects of Kantor’s presence in France was the opening of the French stage to performances combining different art forms. This process was slow and did not begin nor was limited to Kantor’s own performances. However, the most internationally recognizable French artists today blur the boundaries between disciplines, question the role of text and the place of the word in performance, while openly declaring a direct fascination with Kantor’s art.

The September part of the program includes performances by Gisèle Vienne and a conversation with the artist. We will be able to see “Sketches of Crowd #8” – a chamber version of the famous performance “Crowd”, adapted to the space of Cricoteka. This three-person etude exploring the mechanisms of the crowd, loneliness and rave presence was created as a reflection on isolation during the pandemic. The performances will take place on September 18 and 19 at 6:30 PM. A meeting with the artist will take place on September 18 after the performance.

In November, as part of “Playing with Kantor”, together with the National Old Theatre in Krakow, we will open an exhibition at Cricoteka dedicated to the work of Philippe Quesne – a French director and set designer. The exhibition will present objects and audio-visual installations by Philippe Quesne, including pianos from the exhibition “Fantasmagoria” (2022), mole costumes from the performance “La Nuit des taupes. Welcome to Caveland” (2016) and robots from “Le Paradoxe de John” (2025). All elements will be arranged especially for Cricoteka, creating a new whole, with references to the original contexts. The exhibition will open on November 18 and will run until March 2027. In March 2027, the Old Theatre in Krakow will host the premiere of a performance directed by Philippe Quesne. The premiere is part of the main program of Playing with Kantor 2026.

Also in November, Nach – an Afro-French dancer and choreographer – will conduct research as part of a residency in the Cricoteka archive and share materials collected for a performance directly inspired by Tadeusz Kantor’s “The Dead Class”, whose premiere is scheduled for 2027 in Paris at MC93. The presentation of the collected visual and movement materials on November 24 will take the form of a performative lecture. As part of the meeting with the artist, there will be a discussion about the “black dolls” from Déborah Neff’s collection and how Kantor’s rituals help to describe the postcolonial experience.

At the Old Theatre, the artist will also present her solo performance “Nulle part est un ailleurs” from 2020 – an autobiographical dance lecture in which she tells the story of her encounter with krump, as well as her gradual discovery of other dance traditions in which, as it turned out, the spirit of krump is also present. It is a fascinating story, a dance lesson and a dance all in one.

We will reveal more details soon. And we already invite you to “Play with Kantor”!