6 U:NEW Hoteloko festival
6th U Festival HOTELOKO / ISLAND
The sixth edition of the U Hoteloko Festival (formerly the U:NEW Dance Wave Festival) revolves around the idea of the island — as a place of isolation, refuge and dreams, but also of boundaries, conflict and encounters with the Other, the Strange and the Unknown. The island becomes more than just a point on a map; it is also a metaphor for contemporary experience — a space one may seek to escape from, return to, or inhabit, where dreams, memory, the body and reality constantly intersect, creating different visions of the island: real and imagined, private and communal, safe yet marked by the realities of everyday life, which do not always lead to peace in the world.
As part of the festival programme, dance events will be presented under the banner NEW WAVE OF DANCE – NOWA FALA TAŃCA. These will include the premiere presentation of Shared Dreams, the latest production by HOTELOKO Company, the festival’s organiser, alongside performances by other artists from Poland and abroad. The festival opens in October at the Centre for the Promotion of Culture in Warsaw, where audiences will be invited to evenings featuring performances, video dance films and dance shorts by artists from Italy, France, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as a presentation of work from the educational project WAVE OF DREAMS.
In November, the festival moves to the Dance Pavilion and Other Performing Arts, where a double-bill evening will feature a performance by HOTELOKO Company and a guest production by Vialuni Company from Corsica. The festival brings together artists at different stages of their careers, from emerging talents to established practitioners. At the same time, it is a recurring cultural event that engages audiences in discussions about sustainable development and diversity in both social life and the art of dance.
Dates and Venues
16, 17 and 25 October 2026 – Centre for the Promotion of Culture, Praga-Południe, 2 Podskarbińska Street, Warsaw
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2312309679605517
14 November 2026 – Dance Pavilion and Other Performing Arts, 22 Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie, Warsaw
https://pawilontanca.pl/festiwalunew
16 October 2026, 7:00 PM — NEW WAVE OF DANCE
Venue: Centre for the Promotion of Culture, Praga-Południe, 2 Podskarbińska Street, Warsaw
Admission: Free
- Film BB – Magdalena Konik-Machulska, Barbara Wysoczańska-Grochal, Poland
- Dance short SOWA – choreography: Anna Piotrowska; performer: Anastasiia Khvorost, Poland/Ukraine
- Dance short Kat. A – PREMIERE, Maciej Piotr Beczek, Poland
- Dance short Katharsis – Zuzanna Birkos, Poland
- Dance short In the Quiet Room – choreography: Anastasiia Khvorost; performers: Justyna Wrońska and Oleksandr Ostafiichuk, Poland/Ukraine
- Dance short NEXT MODE: PLAYER ONE – Siarhei Dratvitski, Poland/Belarus
- Performance NOWHERE – CIE ART MOUV’, Hélène Taddei Lawson, Corsica/France
17 October 2026, 7:00 PM
Venue: Centre for the Promotion of Culture, Praga-Południe, 2 Podskarbińska Street, Warsaw
Admission: Free
Performance: Shared Dreams – HOTELOKO Company
Concept and choreography: Agata Życzkowska
Performers: Maciej Łączyński, Kinga Łon, Karina Szutko, Mirek Woźniak and Agata Życzkowska
25 October 2026, 7:00 PM
Venue: Centre for the Promotion of Culture, Praga-Południe, 2 Podskarbińska Street, Warsaw
Admission: Free
WAVE OF DREAMS – FALA MARZEŃ – directed by Agata Życzkowska, performed by HOTELOKO Company and guest artists.
The final presentation of the educational project NEW WAVE OF DANCE, developed as part of the Kultura Interwencje – 2026 Edition programme.
Performance: Learning Bodies – PREMIERE – Zappulla DMN Company, Sicily/Italy
Choreography: Giovanni Zappulla
Performers: Annachiara Trigili, Giovanni Zappulla and Giuseppe Rizzo
Free ticket reservations for events at the Centre for the Promotion of Culture:
https://forms.gle/PfDh2SXXQqL8ASux9
14 November 2026, 7:00 PM — DOUBLE BILL
Venue: Dance Pavilion and Other Performing Arts, 22 Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie, Warsaw
Tickets available via the Dance Pavilion website:
https://bilety.pawilontanca.pl/rezerwacja/nienumerowane.html?id=251&idt=5eaaed9ed06f63c5060198acb8447556&d=3&idg=19
Industry invitations: biuro@hoteloko.pl
Film: Becoming Taiga – Agnieszka Gąsiorek
Performance: Shared Dreams – HOTELOKO Company, Concept and choreography: Agata Życzkowska
Performers: Maciej Łączyński, Kinga Łon, Karina Szutko, Mirek Woźniak and Agata Życzkowska
Lighting design: Ewa Garniec
Performance: La Performance Agricole – Compagnie Vialuni, Corsica/France, Concept and choreography: Michèle Ettori
Performers: Michèle Ettori and Sandrine Gout
Funding and Partners
Funded by: The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the Kultura Interwencje – 2026 Edition programme, organised by the National Centre for Culture, for the project NEW WAVE OF DANCE.
Supported by: Italian Institute of Culture in Warsaw
Media Partners: TVP Kultura, e-teatr, Notes na 6 tygodni
Partners: Centre for the Promotion of Culture, Dance Pavilion and Other Performing Arts, L’espace centro choreographico-Palermo, New Visions
Festival Curator and Director: Agata Życzkowska
Collaboration and Coordination: Karina Szutko, Bartłomiej Mamajek
Production and Organisation: Rozwoju Teatru “NOWA FALA” Foundation / HOTELOKO Company
