In Gdynia, I had the chance to develop three sessions during the week organised for this project. My first session was with the contemporary dancer and actress Polina Korgopolova. We started right in the city centre, in the Świętojańska street, and walked towards the sea port. The second session took place at the beach, next to the famous Orłowo Pier, where I met and collaborate with the ballet student Gosia Gajewska. The third session, was with the young professional rhythmic gymnast and dancer Sonia Staniszewska and we toured the famous Aleja Jana Pawła II and also the Promenade and the Pier Mini.

Gdynia is one of the three major cities of the northern Poland – and a seaport of the Baltic Sea coast. The port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of luxury passenger ships and ferries travelling to Scandinavia. In 2013, Gdynia was ranked as Poland’s best city to live in, and topped the national rankings in the category of “general quality of life”. Historically and culturally part of Kashubia and Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia for centuries remained a small fishing village. By the 20th-century it attracted visitors as a seaside resort town. In 1926 Gdynia was granted city rights, after which it enjoyed demographic and urban development, with a modernist cityscape. It became a major seaport city of Poland. The violent 1970 protests in and around Gdynia contributed to the rise of the Solidarity movement in nearby Gdańsk.