Where Two Paths Meet

“Where Two Paths Meet” is a training developed by Przemysław Błaszczak and Jakub Gontarski based on knowledge gained during their many years of practicing aikido and capoeira. Przemek and Jakub are the leaders of Studio Dwóch Ścieżek, a newly formed studio run as part of the BodyConstitution research programme.

Through the practice of martial arts and physical activities such as partnering, contact improvisation and physical movement we can transform something that belongs spiritually to the world of combat into a tool of expression useful in performer’s work.

We will immerse ourselves in movement, in physical action, working together to understand in practice the potential in the meeting of two paths; presenting and recognizing ideas from martial arts: relation and non-relation, balance and non-balance, balance in imbalance. Using a variety of training tools and methods, we will work to overcome the fear and anxiety that largely determine our inner and outer sense of ourselves.

As the aim of our training is to prepare and strengthen the body, we will use elements of aikido and capoeira to discover new types of contact and partnership – from those based on trust and cooperation to those involving distrust and a desire to take control by misleading or exploiting someone’s lack of focus. We will focus on exercises that develop trust, alertness, speed, flexibility, sense of distance and space, and whole-body listening skills.

What is behind the techniques, applications and skills embedded in the traditions of aikido and capoeira? How to discover something important and fresh for actors, dancers, performers?