Drops of Tears Glistened on the Flowers

Kujawiak is one of the Polish National Dances that developed in the late 18th and early 19th century in the region of Kujawy, in central Poland. The dance is performed with calm dignity and simplicity, in a smooth-flowing manner. Pairs move along a circle line to the sentimental, melancholic music. In literature, Kujawiak is described as “reminiscent of the tall grain stalks in the fields swaying gently in the wind”.

In Drops of Tears Glistened on the Flowers, Kamiński dissects Kujawiak’s movement vocabulary and probes new ways of embodying, approaching, composing, improvising, and performing this dance nowadays. Here, Kujawiak acts as a relational force between performers, that fosters the emergence of queer forms of kinship, rapport and intimacy while dancing together. The performance unfolds in four parts, in four landscapes, where through sound and movement new flows and qualities of Kujawiak appear and disappear.