Dzieci (djyeh-chee) is an experimental theatre ensemble dedicated to a search for the “sacred” through the medium of theatre.
Integrating techniques garnered from such theatre masters as Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba and Peter Brook, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in Humanistic Psychology, Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation.
note: “Dzieci” is the Polish word for “Children”.
It was almost two decades ago that I was an actor just starting out in NYC and I stepped into
an ‘audition’ with Dzieci. This first exposure to their work transported me into a wonderful
and unfamiliar realm and I was forever transformed from that day forward. I have had the pleasure of
attending marathon workshops, Makbet and Fools Mass performances and I even had
the honor of joining the group for a visit to Cabrini Residence on the Lower East Side.
Years later, Dzieci’s work stays with me still, and I am so grateful that it has.
Katherine Kahrs ~ The Strand Theatre, Lambertville, NJ
DZIECI PRINCIPLES
The totality of Dzieci’s work is in service to a question: how may we evolve? Joining the group as a member, a guest, or a workshop participant is equally an invitation into this question – an inquiry demanding the highest potential from each other and ourselves, rigorously, compassionately.
To assist our mutual arising, we have committed to following twelve basic principles:
1 – We do not work alone. Only through the strength of community are we able to break through personal barriers and venture beyond self-perceived limitations.
2 – We wish to be brought to a more complete awareness of ourselves, even if that awareness shows us what we are not. In community, through the efforts of others, we can be reminded to remain attentive and awake.
3 – Dzieci is a school, and transmission is fundamental to our practice. We are all teachers. We are all students.
4 – Here there are no labels, no divisions – whoever you are, wherever you come from, we share a common aim, to be able to be.
5 – We make a commitment to be responsible for each other together in the workspace. All struggles are accepted and integral to the working of the group. However, should anyone step away during a period of personal struggle, they are on their own path.
6 – We have a wish not to abandon ourselves for the sake of changing others, nor to become lost in self-absorption. Rather, we strive to direct our attention equally – without and within, that we may simply see and be seen.
7 – Leading non-verbally through action and gesture is our preference. Silence is a quality to be honored, and a practice not only for outer work, but for inner work as well.
8 – We begin from where we are.
9 – Our endeavors are self-initiated. We establish conditions, which may appear insurmountable, in order to expose our fear, refine our attention, and strengthen our resolve. The group can only provide guidance and bear witness, not help.
10 – What someone knows is not of interest to us, only their willingness to leap into the unknown.
11 – If there is a way to do something more humanely, more organically, or more adventurously, we make every effort to do so. We welcome the participation of tricksters and fools.
12 – The form of our work is not the work; it is only a context for revealing what is true.
Mission
Dzieci (djyeh-chee) is an experimental theatre ensemble dedicated to a search for the “sacred” through the medium of theatre.
Integrating techniques garnered from such theatre masters as Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba and Peter Brook, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in Humanistic Psychology, Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation.
note: “Dzieci” is the Polish word for “Children”.
It was almost two decades ago that I was an actor just starting out in NYC and I stepped into
an ‘audition’ with Dzieci. This first exposure to their work transported me into a wonderful
and unfamiliar realm and I was forever transformed from that day forward. I have had the pleasure of
attending marathon workshops, Makbet and Fools Mass performances and I even had
the honor of joining the group for a visit to Cabrini Residence on the Lower East Side.
Years later, Dzieci’s work stays with me still, and I am so grateful that it has.
Katherine Kahrs ~ The Strand Theatre, Lambertville, NJ
DZIECI PRINCIPLES
The totality of Dzieci’s work is in service to a question: how may we evolve? Joining the group as a member, a guest, or a workshop participant is equally an invitation into this question – an inquiry demanding the highest potential from each other and ourselves, rigorously, compassionately.
To assist our mutual arising, we have committed to following twelve basic principles:
1 – We do not work alone. Only through the strength of community are we able to break through personal barriers and venture beyond self-perceived limitations.
2 – We wish to be brought to a more complete awareness of ourselves, even if that awareness shows us what we are not. In community, through the efforts of others, we can be reminded to remain attentive and awake.
3 – Dzieci is a school, and transmission is fundamental to our practice. We are all teachers. We are all students.
4 – Here there are no labels, no divisions – whoever you are, wherever you come from, we share a common aim, to be able to be.
5 – We make a commitment to be responsible for each other together in the workspace. All struggles are accepted and integral to the working of the group. However, should anyone step away during a period of personal struggle, they are on their own path.
6 – We have a wish not to abandon ourselves for the sake of changing others, nor to become lost in self-absorption. Rather, we strive to direct our attention equally – without and within, that we may simply see and be seen.
7 – Leading non-verbally through action and gesture is our preference. Silence is a quality to be honored, and a practice not only for outer work, but for inner work as well.
8 – We begin from where we are.
9 – Our endeavors are self-initiated. We establish conditions, which may appear insurmountable, in order to expose our fear, refine our attention, and strengthen our resolve. The group can only provide guidance and bear witness, not help.
10 – What someone knows is not of interest to us, only their willingness to leap into the unknown.
11 – If there is a way to do something more humanely, more organically, or more adventurously, we make every effort to do so. We welcome the participation of tricksters and fools.
12 – The form of our work is not the work; it is only a context for revealing what is true.