Rafał Urbacki

Rafał Urbacki (born 1984, Poland, Upper Silesia) is a director and choreographer. He studied theatre directing at the PWST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków and at the University of Silesia in Katowice. He has run a number of identity, community and participatory projects, including Mt 9.7 [And He Rose and Went to His House] (2010; Old Brewery, Poznań), Mover (2010; Silesian Dance Theatre, Bytom), In Screwedville (2012; Theatre Institute, Warsaw), the wake (2012; Theatre of the Eighth Day, Poznań), if you hop you are a poofter, hey (2012; Pomade Initiative, Warsaw), May the Sun Never Shine Again on This Day (2014; Fredro Theatre, Gniezno), Protected Species (2014; ROZBARK Theatre, Bytom; with Anu Czerwiński), The Worker's Heart is Powered by Work (ROZBARK Theatre, Bytom; with Anu Czerwiński), The Shape of Things (2015; Silesian Museum, Katowice). His choreography credits include work with the duo of Strzępka and Demirski: Rainbow Stand 2012 (2011), the musical Women in Childbed in St Sophia Hospital (2011), In the Name of Jacob S. (2011), Courtney Love (2012), and work with Radosław Rychcik: Twelve Angry Men (2012). He has been a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Kraków for several years and at the Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw. His main interests include the cultural perception of people with limited movement and sensation, the archaeology of the worker’s body, and the physical habitus of non-heteronormative people. His original method of movement has recently enabled him to start walking without the wheelchair. He is currently based in Katowice.