WoW

WoW is an expressive choreographic duet created as part of the Przestrzenie Sztuki TANIEC programme at the Wrocław Pantomime Theatre.

In times of darkness and uncertainty, the artists explore the meaning of pleasure: the pleasure of living, of dancing, and of watching dance. They balance on the edge of pop culture, kitsch, and boundless trance. Immersed in choreomaniac movement, their bodies rebound from the ground, lifting them into simultaneous states of bliss and surrender.

The performance was inspired by the historical phenomenon of choreomania and by CHOREOMANIA, the album by Florence + The Machine. Choreomania was a dancing plague that appeared in different parts of Europe over the course of more than ten centuries. The compulsive urge to dance in public spaces brought together hundreds of people in collective, ecstatic movement, continuing until exhaustion, loss of consciousness, and sometimes even death.

To this day, the causes of these ecstatic outbreaks remain uncertain. Some theories attribute them to accidental ergot poisoning—a hallucinogenic fungus that grows primarily on grasses and cereals—while others associate them with neurological disorders such as chorea. Another interpretation suggests that the relentless dancing was a collective response to psychological distress brought on by an era marked by epidemics, wars, and natural disasters.

Marta Wołowiec is a choreographer, performer, dancer, and producer. She creates solo and collaborative performances in cooperation with Polish and international artists. She has performed and presented her work in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Norway, Sweden, Lebanon, Italy, Romania, Denmark, France, and Lithuania. She also creates choreography and movement direction for drama and film.

She is a two-time recipient of the Special Award in the Stanisław Wyspiański Theatre Award in Kraków. Her collaborators include KORZO Theatre (the Netherlands), DanceHauspiù (Italy), the National Stary Theatre in Kraków, Wrocław Contemporary Theatre, Capitol Musical Theatre, the Grotowski Institute, and Groteska Theatre in Kraków.

She participated in the international project Crossroad – Inhabiting the World, completing artistic residencies in Lebanon, Belgium, and Italy. She was also the producer of the international iCoDaCo collective (Creative Europe, 2018–2020). In August 2024, supported by a Culture Moves Europe mobility grant, she undertook a two-week research residency in Berlin observing the Swedish choreographer Jefta van Dinther. In 2025, she participated in the international choreographic programme ATLAS at ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival.

For over a decade, she was part of the Kraków Choreographic Centre, serving as its Director from 2018 to 2023. She is the founder and president of the Gently Foundation.