‘A performance sophisticated in its layers of movement, poetic, Apoptosis…’ Rebels and exiles, Beata Wa¶, Gazeta Olsztyñska nr 194/21.08 22-08-2006.

"I ran with curiosity to the attic to sit down and not get up, not budge, to dissolve into the peculiar performance of Sylwia Hanff [Dreams of an Ocean]. Indeed, there is something there that crushes you into your seat, and each move, each breath, which could destroy the created reality, becomes a profanation. I notice something that eludes our attention in everyday life – the asymmetry of the body, the work of the muscles, the texture of the wooden floor beneath the feet. The meditative beginning of the performance introduces a stunning atmosphere. The tension which accompanies every gesture of the dancer spreads to the audience. The music is beautiful, unlike the dancing woman, who effaces the marks of her gender using a thick layer of white paint. She is just a person, each human being, ‘everyman’ and, at the same time, the embodiment of herself only. And of fear, and evil, and darkness, and confinement (the mask, convulsive movements). As a spectator I ‘read’ and built up a sequence of meanings, even though I am aware that it is not an entirely accurate method because butoh does not illustrate anything. So, I change my perspective and look at the body stripped of the ‘aesthetic’ disguise, the sophisticated gesture, soft strokes and beauty which are characteristic of dance. Butoh ‘destroys’ the habits – outside the rhythm of music, in the deformed, asymmetrical, inimitable gesture, the truth reveals itself. The human being is also revealed, how imperfect and defective he/she is, but at the same time how beautiful against the background of a blue sky; a human being – an element of the larger sum total. I am thankful for this performance which brought some peace to my haste. I admire this ability to concentrate. Unnatural; still I felt good."
Agata Drewnicz

/.../ This kind of concentration might not be achievable in any other kind of theatre, so it is difficult to liberate it from metaphysical matters. The futuristic associations, at first, made room for reflection on personal growth, development and a striving for perfection. Laying discipline and rules onto our, in fact, stunted, bodies. When the actress-dancer returns once again to her fight for beauty she tries to dance on the tips of her toes and it becomes clear how much effort there is in each of our decisions to rise again. And it is this effort which is the most precious, the beauty of concentration, improvisation, painful, uncompromising, because it does not flatter the audience. It forces us to concentrate, which initially was a form of torture for the audience. However, to my surprise, this performance did not need any defense from the outside. Simply, its spell worked. And I can be thankful for this. Just another moment when I believed in the magic of theatre. In absorption.’
Anka Perek (The Festival Paper of the Eleventh Sweetblues)

What I saw [Short tasting of Life Centre Project Pracovnia Maat & Limen Theatre] surprised me really positively. These kinds of performances can be seen more often abroad at exclusive festivals. What do I see? I sit in an old ruined chair and observe the bizarre arrangement of space. Some constructions, stripes, fabrics. Everything is circulating, flowing as if it was heading towards a direction chosen long ago. A huge door. Is this a door…? Can this door be opened into another reality..? Everything speeds up; images glide like phantoms, ghosts. It reminds me somewhat of the spirit of the No theatre. Butoh. At its best, a remarkably served form. Two excellent dancers, who reached the underside of hell with their dance. The Male-Dancer [Tomasz Bazan] with his great energy can be compared only to Daisuke Yoshimoto, the Female-Dancer [Sylwia Hanff] burns anything that stands in her way. Stagecraft incomparable with anything else. If energy could be visualized, the room, the walls, the audience would probably be set ablaze. A performance at the highest level. However, I am afraid, that it is not adapted (unfortunately) for those more traditional Polish stages.
Marek Korwitt (one of the interns and co-workers of Jerzy Grotowski)

The Empty Place was an extraordinary performance. [...] Sylwia Hanff and partnering her, Beata Ciecierska-Zajdel, constructed the atmosphere of void and emotional dilemmas perfectly. Both, the particular compositions and the choice of music – strong and monumental – suggested Expressionist references and gave the performance a universal dimension. We had the impression of flowing in space and touching something difficult to verbalize. Together with the artists we penetrated the void, once described by Ma³gorzata Sacha-Piek³o as becoming light.
Agnieszka Szmidel, www.napis.pl Niezale¿ny Akademicki Portal Informacyjny Stolicy (Independent Academic Informational Portal of the Capital)

Niedoistnienie (Un-done-existence) /…/ is a butoh performance by Sylwia Hanff. The dancer from the Limen Theatre hypnotized the audience performing the ‘dance of darkness’, as butoh is called. [M.K., Racibórz]

[During the 13th Theatrical Summer in Barlinek] one more theatrical form appeared which we have not had an opportunity of seeing before and which made a great impression. It is a body theatre – the butoh dance. Sylwia Hanff is a professional and a perfectionist.
Romana Kaszczyc, Barlinek portal

Niedoistnienie (Un-done-existence) – a performance of butoh dance by Sylwia Hanff. The dancer from the Limen Theatre hypnotized the audience with the ‘dance of darkness’, as butoh is called. (http://www.raciborz.com.pl/art1091.html)

Niedoistnienie – a performance in a sensational musical setting – seems to be a record of tension and pain, which accompany existence. /…/ Gloomy and extraordinary.
M. Ciesielski, Zycie Warszawy

Dial code. (0-22) dance’2004. The Warsaw audience awarded the Limen Theatre, a piece by Syliwa Hanff, Niedoistnienie (Un-done-existence).

[During the 7th International Festival of Outdoor and Street Theatres FETA 2003] … Poland will be represented by groups which are acclaimed the world over: Biuro Podró¿y (Travel Agency), Teatr Snów (Dream Theatre), Klinika Lalek (Doll Clinic), Wagabunda (The Vagabond) and Limen – the Body Theatre, presenting the highest levels of butoh dance.