PAWEL KONIOR
Performer, mover, teacher, therapist
After graduating from the Academy of Physical Education and the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in 2010, Paweł has been active in the field of performing arts across Europe as a dancer and performer.
Alongside being on stage, Paweł began teaching contact improvisation and improvisation, using them as sources of creation, connection, and embodiment.
For Pawel, contact improvisation is a form of listening at the highest speed. When one, two, or more bodies are empty enough to truly listen—to the passing movement within the body, between bodies, and in space—they are ready for the unknown. From this emptiness, everything is revealed and everything becomes possible. In this state, there is no right or wrong. We learn to move together, resonating with everything around us. We are not caught in what was or what will be, but present in what is—here and now—with all that surrounds us.
His background in sports strongly influences his way of moving and teaching, where improvisation is interwoven with technique and playfulness. Paweł has a distinctive and organic approach, characterized by spontaneity and curiosity. He creates environments that invite people to adapt to constantly changing situations, helping them to discover and nurture their true potential. His work is inspired by Ilan Lev Therapy, martial arts, contemporary dance, tai chi, and sports.
“We are never in balance. Searching for harmony and balance is a constant process.”
PAWEL KONIOR
In contact improvisation, we often want to jump straight into high lifts and flights to experience the thrill of flying. But first, what truly matters is establishing communication and connection. Let’s also think of “flying” and “freedom” not in terms of height, but as a quality of movement.
To begin, I will invite you to sense and feel your own body and the bodies of others.
Drawing inspiration from Body-Mind Centering, the tensegrity model, and fascia principles, we will explore what happens beneath the skin—dancing from within. From there, we can discover many kinds of spatial flights: small or big, high or low, focusing on the experience of traveling through space. Small doesn’t mean less, and low doesn’t exclude the feeling of weightlessness.
Each day will start with a series of exercises designed to open the sensory level of body, mind, and space. We’ll begin with simple movements—bending and extending, folding and unfolding—gradually moving toward more complex explorations. We will move our bones and allow them to be moved by others, discovering new ways of traveling, supporting, and flying.
Our research will be supported by principles of anatomy, the Ilan Lev Method, and other movement approaches. We will play with levers and forces in order to learn, let go, and reorganize habitual body patterns.
Not resisting, not reacting… simply waiting, following, going with the force—and then catching momentum to ride the wave.
Together, we will explore how to travel through space, finding flow within solos, duets, and groups. We’ll experiment with small lifts, shifts, and hops, weaving them into our journeys through the space. Instead of taking typical contact lifts upward, we will transform them into traveling through space.
This perspective breaks familiar patterns and brings the joy of surprise—infusing our practice with playfulness and fun.
So, let’s enjoy, experiment, and make the bones fly!