Double Premiere at M Studio

The new piece, Dirty Dancing, choreographed by Polish-born Eryk Makohon, will premiere on May 25 at Cricoteka in Kraków and on June 3 at the Háromszék Dance Studio (starting at 7 p.m.). While the title clearly alludes to the classic 1987 film (which premiered in Poland in the landmark year of 1989), the performance is not a reinterpretation of that film. Rather, it uses “dirty dancing” as a metaphor.
“We are interested in dance not merely as a choreography of movement, but as a performative act that transgresses social norms—ethically, aesthetically, and emotionally. Dirty Dancing is a kind of dance that is impure, shameful, lustful, disturbing—yet also liberating and transformative,” emphasize the creators.

Each artist developed their own stage alter ego, along with a series of movements and gestures that balance between awkward, ridiculous, and joyful situations. A key element of the process was “guilty pleasure,” interpreted not as entertainment in the sense of pop culture, but as a test of social boundaries and personal comfort zones. In this sense, Dirty Dancing is not a performance that can be analyzed from a safe distance with reason. It is an event that engages the audience on a physical and emotional level, inviting empathy, second-hand shame, and shared laughter.

The performers in the production are Zoltán Deák, Eszter Nagy, Emília Polgár, and László Szekrényes. The choreographer’s assistant and creative partner is Paweł Łyskawa; dramaturgy is by Daria Kubisiak, and costumes are designed by Zsuzsi Szőke.

Eryk Makohon is a choreographer, founder, and director of the Kraków Dance Theatre. He is a permanent faculty member at the Dance Theatre Department of the Stanisław Wyspiański Theatre Academy in Kraków. He has created over thirty performances and organized numerous educational projects and cultural events. His background in architecture has had a significant influence on the aesthetic form of his works. Together with Paweł Łyskawa, he is the creator and curator of the ROLLERCOASTER dance performance series, which has been presented since October 2018 at the Tadeusz Kantor Art Documentation Center, Cricoteka, in Kraków.

Partners in the Beyond Front@: Bridging Periphery Creative Europe 2023–2026 project include: Kraków Dance Theatre (Poland), Central Europe Dance Theatre (Hungary), BUNKER (Slovenia), Vytlacil Art Center (Sweden), and HIPP – Croatian Institute for Movement and Dance.