Children and young people eagerly took advantage of the extensive range of free activities prepared by the centre, as well as cartoons screened especially for the winter holidays and a theatre offering.
During the winter holidays, Bolesławiec residents tried their hand at various fields of art at BOK-MCC. They danced in two large dance studios (ZPiT Bolesławiec and the Canon Hip-Hop Dance Group). In the breakdance studio, they learned the basics of rhythmics and acrobatics. The youngest participants took part in aerobics classes together with their parents.
In the art studios, children painted, sculpted and created small works from salt dough. The new Orzeł, or the Cultural Integration Centre, was also operating at full speed during the winter holidays. Young filmmakers, actors, photographers and singing enthusiasts discovered their talents there.
Dance and art at the BOK-MCC studios
During the winter holidays, the dance rooms were filled with more than one hundred young dancers who took part in hip-hop workshops led by Katarzyna Tomczyk-Jakubowska and breakdance workshops under the guidance of Paweł Klimek.
During the hugely popular hip-hop classes, participants learned the basic steps and simple choreographies of this expressive dance. They also worked on correct posture and movement coordination.
Paweł Klimek’s classes began with an introduction to the basics of rhythmics and acrobatics featuring breakdance elements: toprock (dynamic dance steps combined with gestures) and footwork (movements performed from a supported squat position). The young dancers then prepared short choreographies.
At the oriental dance classes led by Alicja Kowal, enrolled participants learned and relaxed at the same time. There is no better method for relaxation and soothing frayed nerves than belly dancing. The sensual movements performed in this dance help participants overcome complexes and become comfortable with their bodies. The confidence in movement gained during the exercises also increases self-confidence.
Art enthusiasts had the opportunity to create under the guidance of Edyta Orlińska during ceramic and sculpture workshops. During the classes, they made ceramic bas-reliefs in which the leading motif was the rainbow as an arch. First, tile designs were created using a flat artistic technique (painted on paper), and then transferred onto ceramic material. The flat tiles were given three-dimensional form with convex and concave relief, enriched with imprints of various textures and openwork.
At collage workshops led by Magdalena Konieczna, children and young people created collages from various materials, combining painting and drawing techniques with fabric, newspapers and coloured paper. The works were inspired by the creations of the Cubists.
Stanisława Wojda-Pytlińska conducted the “World of Dinosaurs” art workshops for several dozen children. The children painted and made dinosaur figurines from salt dough. Both realistic and highly imaginative works were created. Under the guidance of an expert, many good works inspired by the popular world of extinct giant reptiles came into being.
Theatre, film and photography at CIK Orzeł
At the Orzeł Cultural Integration Centre, the winter holidays began on Valentine’s Friday during the Atak Serca event. The cinema hall was adapted for theatre and photography activities. During the event, participants were photographed on stage and in front of the camera. A singing group performed several traditional songs, and the participants’ acting efforts with Jan Brzechwa’s love poetry were also recorded.
During the open Wok-kutura vocal workshops led by Agata Pińczuk-Burdzy, participants practised diction and articulation and learned songs from the film-musical production Akademia Pana Kleksa: “Welcome to Our Fairy Tale”, “The Moon Once Visited the Pond” and “How to Talk to a Dog”. As part of the classes, auditions were also organised for male roles in the musical “The Lion King”.
In the theatre studio, participants worked on a short performance consisting of humorous, cabaret-style and absurd texts about theatre, love and life. These were mainly humorous pieces by Jan Brzechwa from the collection “Brzechwa for Adults”. “The age range of the participants was impressive,” said the instructor Mariusz Laudański about the classes. “Participants were aged from 13 to 60. Intergenerational integration went excellently. It was a major challenge, because there were only two weeks to memorise the assigned roles. I hope it did not turn into a drama,” the instructor joked.
At the Film Education Studio, supervised by Michał Szwed, work was under way on a new film. The young people wrote the screenplay. Filming will begin in the second half of March.
Film and theatre at Forum cinema
Young viewers eagerly took advantage of the animated film programme. During the winter holidays, “The Lego® Adventure”, “Turbo”, “Storks”, “The Snow Queen” and “Rysiek the Lionheart” were screened especially for them. More than 2,000 people took advantage of this offer.
More than four hundred viewers watched Sergei Prokofiev’s most popular symphonic fairy tale, “Peter and the Wolf”. The excellent combination of music with the story of Peter, who must stand up to a dangerous wolf, had an additional educational dimension. Prokofiev’s music, composed for the fairy tale, also introduced viewers to various instruments.
The performance at Forum was produced using the “black theatre” puppetry technique, which is extremely popular in the Czech Republic, in which appropriate lighting conceals the puppet animators, dressed in black, from the audience. Thanks to the colourful puppet designs, it was a mysterious and colourful performance.
(information: BOK-MCC/ii)