I had met Maciej before in Salvador, Brazil, at some Candomblé dance classes I attended at the Escola de Dança. He stood out for being tall, white, male and straight – all at once! I guess we had that in common – and being foreign. His passion for performance was powerfully obvious. He is Polish and did post-doctoral studies in Brazil. His work combines theatre, literature, philosophy dance.

We communicated in Portuguese, both of us had connections with UFBA, the Federal University of the Brazilian state of Bahia. He was no more than an acquaintance then, we hung out together after dance class once or twice, sitting outside a bar on the hot cobbled streets of the old town, while he constantly greeted passing friends.

Next time I was in Salvador Maciej had a project. He had been running his own classes in physical theatre and improvisation at the dance school and they had morphed into a piece being prepared for performance. Visit the projects setion for more about this theatre production