La MaMa Presents "Untold Wajda"
Company:
Battery Dance
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is thrilled to announce Untold Wajda: Blokowisko (The Estate), A dance-theatre spectacle reviving Andrzej Wajda's lost film: a story of love in an oppressed society, told through live electronics, bold choreography and cinematic video. Blanka Barbara Stahl (composer/director) revives a lost cinematic vision of Oscar laureate Andrzej Wajda’s, whose never-produced screenplay is based on a true story he heard from an actor in 1972. The script had three attempted film productions but was ultimately never brought to the screen. Marking the centenary of Wajda’s birth, this contemporary dance-theatre work gives the story a body and a voice for the first time, weaving multimedia and live performance into a landscape of memory, loss, and resilience.
"You don't watch Untold Wajda: Blokowisko so much as get caught in its current — swept through the estate, out the other side, changed." — (Dance Europe)
Created by composer-performer Blanka Barbara Stahl with BAFTA-winning choreographer Anthony Matsena (choreographer) and Ignatius Sokal (UNTOLD Productions), BLOKOWISKO premiered to a sold-out house at London’s Southbank Centre in March 2026 and is presented under the patronage of Krystyna and Daniel Olbrychski, close friends of Andrzej Wajda.
This US premier is a diplomatic cultural exchange supported by the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and features a new collaboration with Battery Dance. Performances will take place at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 East 4th Street, 3rd Floor, NYC 10003). Runtime is 75 minutes. Additional information at lamama.org.
Creative Team:
Concept, Dramaturgy, and Music: Blanka Barbara Stahl
Choreography: Anthony Matsena
Artistic Direction: Blanka Barbara Stahl, Anthony Matsena, and Ignatius Sokal
Video Design: –8
Lighting Design: Philip Burke
Costume and Stage Design: Ismini Papaioannou
Dancers: Jonathan Colafrancesco, Shannon Harkins, Joe LaLuzerne, Jillian Linkowski, Perla Martinez, Nelson Mejia, Victoria Sames, Kar’mel Antonyo Wade Small
Untold Productions Team:
Ignatius Sokal (Executive Producer)
Robin Cantrell (New York Producer)
Sarah Housepian (Rehearsal Director)
This Production is Supported by: Krystyna and Daniel Olbrychski, Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, Polish Cultural Institute London, Polish Cultural Institute New York.
Special Thanks to: Kel Matsena, Joshua Attwood, Joanna Parker, Paulina Latham, Marlena Lukasiak, Jakub Świetlik, Universitas Society of Authors and Publishers, and Jonathan Hollander (founder of Battery Dance).
About the Blanka Barbara Stahl
From five-star operas to underground club nights, composer-performer, music producer Blanka Barbara Stahlfuses acoustic instruments with electronics across theatre, contemporary dance and audio-visual concerts.
blankabarbara.com | @blankabarbaramusic
"Blanka Barbara Stahl is no conventional electronic music act. Abstract voyages, softly surging piano, electronic storms that gather against deep synthesiser chords, meet tender drum machines and soft melodic patterns." — FAME Magazine
About Battery Dance
Battery Dance performs, teaches, presents, and advocates for the field of dance on stages and in communities around the world. Founded in New York City in 1976, the Company is dedicated to the pursuit of artistic excellence and making the arts accessible to everyone. An integral part of New York City’s cultural fabric for 50 years, Battery Dance supports artists and the creative process, provides dance education to children in New York City schools, and engages the public through performances, community programs, national and international tours, and international arts exchange initiatives.
About the Polish Cultural Institute New York
The Polish Cultural Institute New York promotes Polish culture, heritage, and art to audiences across the United States, while building lasting connections between cultural and academic communities in Poland and the U.S. Through partnerships with leading American cultural institutions, universities, festivals, and independent organizations, the Institute supports and develops collaborations across the arts and humanities — from film, theater, dance, music, literature, visual art and design to history and contemporary social thought. By bringing Polish artists, thinkers, and cultural practitioners into dialogue with American audiences, the Institute strengthens the presence of Polish culture in the U.S. and contributes to meaningful international exchange. Established in 2000, the Polish Cultural Institute New York operates under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and is part of Poland’s global diplomacy network.
About La MaMa
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa's 65th Season, ONENESS, focuses on creating solidarity and community, exploring ways to build connections for cross-sector coalition and invites artists, activists, organizers and community members into the creative process. We build audiences that are integral to the creative process. Our local and global community members who gather in our physical, digital, and hybrid spaces to see new work, are often the first audience for that work. La MaMa believes art is a force for change.
La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently a 2023 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Special Citation. We are a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, Robert De Niro, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Charlotte Brathwaite, Charles Ludlam, Haruna Lee, Tom Eyen, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Meredith Monk, David and Amy Sedaris, Stephanie Hsu, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O'Horgan, Heather Christian, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa's vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961. For more info, visit: lamama.org.
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