hoteloko company
Hoteloko company
HOTELOKO Company is a Warsaw-based ensemble founded in 2011 by choreographer, director, dancer, actress, and producer Agata Życzkowska. The collective is co-created by Karina Szutko, Mirek Woźniak, and Maciej Feliga. The company produces performances in the field of contemporary dance and experimental choreography. Since 2021, Agata Życzkowska has also organized the U:NEW Dance Wave Festival, held annually in Warsaw. HOTELOKO Company operates under the umbrella of the NEW WAVE Theatre Development Foundation, which serves as the producer of all performances and the festival.
Between 2016 and 2020, Agata Życzkowska co-created a collective with dancer and choreographer Magdalena Przybysz. She also collaborated with dancer and choreographer Wojciech Grudziński. Currently, she works closely with Mirek Woźniak, Karina Szutko, and Maciej Feliga. Her artistic practice focuses primarily on new experimental choreography and performance art. HOTELOKO Company develops artistic, educational, and socially engaged projects that address themes such as ecology, women’s rights, empathy, acceptance, identity, migration, travel, gender equality, queerness, community, mental well-being, education, and urban life. The ensemble creates performances that engage with reality. Their dramaturgy is inspired by the current state of the world — in Poland, Europe, and globally. Movement is the primary storytelling tool, although the collective boldly incorporates text, imagery, and music into their performances. Nevertheless, movement creation and a refined choreographic-dramaturgical structure always remain central. A distinctive feature of their work is its unpredictability and the active involvement of the audience in the performances.
The company received the Jury’s Coup de Coeur Award for originality for the performance Absolutely Fabulous Dancers at the Quartiers Danses Festival in Montreal (2019), as well as the First Prize – Grand Theatrical Consequence – at the 4th edition of the Sopot Festival of Theatrical Consequences for Axiom of Choice (2020). Agata Życzkowska’s performance LUXA was also selected for the Polish Dance Platform 2024. The group presents performances in Polish, English, and French.
WHY HOTEOLKO?
Because the company, by design, has no permanent base and embraces travel, constant movement (HOTEL), while also valuing madness (loco in Spanish – pronounced “loko” – meaning crazy) and placing emphasis on experience and sincerity reflected through the EYE (OKO in Polish). The HOTELOKO collective has developed its own language – a somewhat freaky dance style rooted in the diversity of the artists’ backgrounds.
Agata Życzkowska
Mainly works with themes of identity, using authentic movement and everyday gestures, interactive methods, ensemble-based work, emotional expression, reflection, and multimedia. Her world is ruled by sequins, which appear in every performance. This shimmering is an intentional visual concept, expressed in the phrase: “I live in a sequin ball.”
Mirek Woźniak
Defines himself as an artist operating at the intersection of different art forms. He creates stage work that blends dance, singing, and acting. He draws on improvisational techniques such as flying low, animal movement, and contact improvisation, but also builds on his own original method of continuous flow, which he calls “liquid spirit”.
Karina Szutko
works with a range of contemporary dance techniques, drawing inspiration from contact improvisation while integrating elements of Latin dance and popping. Her creative process is intuitive, and she constructs choreography through improvisation, with a strong focus on partner work.
Maciek Feliga
uses classical contemporary dance techniques, placing emphasis on attentiveness, expression, and active engagement. Through impulsive and powerful choreography, he explores issues relevant to the younger generation, expressing them through movement. His process includes improvisation and partnering as key creative tools.
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