Ola Maciejewska draws inspiration from Daisy Hildyard’s book The Second Body, diving into the urgent dialogue on human impact on the climate and ecology. Hildyard’s narrative proposes that humans possess two bodies: the tangible flesh and bone, and an abstract form intertwined with the environment. 

Intrigued by this ambivalence, Maciejewska explores the dissolving of the boundaries between object and subject, animate and inanimate, to the point where we can observe the choreographic process of matter and bodies becoming interrelated and co-dependent. On stage, a human body and a block of ice—one, a complex organism made of muscles, bones and veins, 80% of which is liquid; the other, made of frozen tap water. Neither a duet nor a solo, The Second Body invites to witness the permeability of these two bodies of water in constant transformation. A manifesto on interdependence, scale, and radical exteriority, celebrating the immediacy and richness of sensory experience. 

Ola Maciejewska, born in Poland and based in France, is a dancer, artist, and choreographer. Her work explores the intersections between materiality and ephemerality, and movement and its conditions of appearance, offering critical insights into the history of dance. 

Maciejewska’s series on serpentine dances, inspired by Loie Fuller, merges dance and visual art, reflecting on themes of metamorphosis, synesthesia, and hybrid embodiment. Her works have been presented at venues such as the Centre Pompidou Paris, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, London Royal Opera House, Musée d’Orsay, and various international festivals. 

Maciejewska’s notable projects include Dance Concert and Bombyx Mori, which was presented at Moving in November in 2017. She has taught at institutions like HEAD Geneva and the Centre National de la Danse Pantin. 

In 2022, she received a grant from the Watermill Center and was an associate artist for the Mondes Nouveaux project by the French Ministry of Culture. Her piece FIGURY (przestrzenne) won the Gallery Prize from the Nadežda Petrović gallery. In 2023, she premiered The Second Body and is currently working on a new project set to debut in 2025 at CNDC Angers.