In Greek tragedies, the chorus used to enter the stage singing and dancing while the audience was seated. Vistula (Wisła), by Weronika Pelczyńska, in collaboration with Angelika Mizińska and with dramaturgical consultation by Teresa Fazan, inverts these roles.

The spectators, gathered in the theatre hall of the Pavilion of Dance beside the banks of the Vistula River, are guided by the two choreographers to exit and walk outdoors. This procession dissolves as the participants scatter across the adjacent yard, where the chorus is already (dis)placed. It is composed of self-confident women in colourful outfits who, at regular intervals, chirp like birds.

Through the provided earphones, we hear alarming information about the impact of the climate crisis on the Vistula’s ecosystems, historical and geographical context regarding the river, ambient water sounds, and gentle invitations to participate in the choreography. We are encouraged to listen to nature and to one another while moving through space or lying on the grass.

In recent years, underscoring the gravity of climate change and proposing ecological ways of living have become recurring themes in contemporary art. Pelczyńska’s site-specific work may not stand out for the originality of its topic, but it does for the sense of community it manages to create. Simple actions like standing in line while watching the river, wave at each other or stretching our limbs together feel like a meditative and powerful collective ritual – a way to resist and a suggestion on how to continue existing at a time when ‘social, political, economic and river systems are collapsing’.

We have gathered beside the Vistula not to discover a new plot, but to share a time and space in which to let ourselves go – much like the audience of an ancient Greek tragedy.