Requiem by Karol Cysewski

Karol Cysewski in association with Hijinx Theatre & Chapter presents: Requiem.

Presented as part of Hijinx's Unity Festival 2024.

“Risk of death from COVID-19 between Jan 24 and Nov 30, 2020 [...] was 3.1 times greater for men with disabilities and 3.5 times greater for women with disabilities than for men and women without disabilities.” - The Lancet

According to the charity Mencap, life expectancy for people with a learning disability is eighteen years shorter for women and fourteen years shorter for men than in the general population.

With the experiences of neurodivergent and learning-disabled people at its heart, Requiem is a multisensory, immersive dance-theatre performance that meditates upon this unfairness.

Working with three neurodivergent actors from Hijinx Academy, and three professional dancers, choreographer Karol Cysewski (Homo Irrationalis/NDCWales/Ballet Cymru) has created Requiem; a new performance exploring the real lives behind these shocking statistics and the devastating impact of health inequality.

Why does this disparity reach even beyond death? Why do people die sooner if they are neurodivergent or learning disabled? A dance-theatre requiem that mourns those people who are prematurely taken away and demands to know why there's inequality even in death.

Choreography: Karol Cysewski

Design: Ruby Brown

Sound design: Sion Orgon

Dramaturgy/Additional Text: Simon Harri

Lighting Design: Sophie Moore

About the artist...

Polish-born Karol Cysewski is a Cardiff-based choreographer and dancer.

Karol studied at The State Ballet School in Poznan, Poland and went on to train at Laban Centre London graduating in 2001. Karol has since worked for several dance companies including Polish Dance Theatre, Carte Blanche in Norway, and National Dance Company Wales.

Karol works as an independent dance artist, choreographer and teacher (including at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama).

After seven years at National Dance Company Wales, he left in 2012 to concentrate on creating his own work. His funny and physical choreography for Wonders of the Universe (in 2013/14) won him audience praise, and ultimately a four star review in the Guardian during his sell-out run at Dance Base for the Edinburgh Fringe. His most recent work, Homo Irrationalis, toured in autumn 2015.

Haze, trigger warnings – show references death, health challenges/inequlaity, disability

Audio Description available

Requiem is an immersive dance-theatre performance exploring the devastating impact of health inequality.