ABOUT
W&M Physical Theatre is the professional contemporary dance and physical theatre company founded by Wojciech Mochniej and Melissa Monteros in 1994 in Gdańsk, Poland, and which changed its home base to Calgary in 2000. The non-profit organization, W&M Dance Projects of Calgary Association, encompasses all production initiatives created and supported by the company, including the touring, performance, and film work of W&M Physical Theatre, the WildDogs International Screendance Festival, the Artists-in-Residence program, and WM2 Co. (apprenticeship ensemble).
Artists’ Statement
As artists, we are interested in remaining open; open to inspiration, to finding a connection between how we live and respond as humans and the political and social currents that surface in our environment, and to exploring the deeper and sometimes darker currents that lurk below the surface. We strive to use an abstract physical form to create a readable language. All of this is informed by our experiences from Poland and from Finland and shaped by European theatrical traditions.
The feeling is what drives the work. We try to create layers in images that stimulate thought. The artistic vision is hopefully evolving, maturing, deepening — a way of understanding the past through the lens of who we have become. We are ready for more risk, more questions, to challenge the body in another way.
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Melissa Monteros — EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Melissa Monteros is a performer, choreographer, dance filmmaker, and Professor Emerita at the University of Calgary whose international career spans performance, creation, and the shaping of complex contemporary works. She holds a Master of Arts in Dance from UCLA and a BFA in Dance from the University of Utah. Her formative training includes study with Bill T. Jones, Kei Takei, and Ronald Brown, and extensive work in New York with Risa Steinberg, Milton Myers, Lynn Simonson, and Christine Wright — a lineage that informs a practice grounded in physical clarity, compositional intelligence, and embodied inquiry.
Her choreographic and performance work has been presented internationally, with invitations across Europe, Canada, and the United States, including Austria, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Lithuania. She has created work for independent artists and companies such as Risa Steinberg, JoJo Oulu Dance, Silesian Dance Theatre, Springboard Dance Collective, and theatre director Michael Hackett, and has performed in works by Avi Kaiser, Davida Monk, Darcy McGehee, and Alpo Aaltokoski, among others.
Monteros is co-founder of W&M Physical Theatre with Wojciech Mochniej. Their long-term collaboration has generated a substantial body of stage, screen, and international festival work, including Dance Explosions Poland, the International Festival of Improvisation in Poland, and the WildDogs International Screendance Festival. A Fulbright Scholar, Monteros has received honorary awards in Gdańsk and Lublin for her contributions to contemporary dance. Her work reflects a long-standing commitment to shaping performance from the inside — where structure, risk, and meaning are forged through practice.
Wojciech Mochniej — ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Wojciech Mochniej is a Polish-Canadian choreographer, performer, dance filmmaker, and teacher, and the Artistic Director of W&M Physical Theatre. He brings decades of international creative leadership, a rigorous physical practice, and a deep commitment to risk-driven contemporary performance.
Mochniej began his professional career as an original member of Silesian Dance Theatre (1991–1994), widely recognized as Poland’s first contemporary dance company — where he met Melissa Monteros, launching a creative partnership that led to the founding of Gdański Teatr Tańca (Dance Theatre of Gdańsk) in 1995. Their collaboration has generated stage works, screendance projects, and major international initiatives, including the WildDogs International Screendance Festival, Dance Explosions Poland, and the International Festival of Improvisation in Poland.
As a performer, Mochniej has worked with influential choreographers including Anna Sokolow, Talley Beatty, Mark Haim, Stephanie Skura, Alpo Aaltokoski, Avi Kaiser, Davida Monk, and Darcy McGehee. His improvisational practice has been shaped by work with Ray Chung, David Dorfman, Chris Aiken, and Martin Keough, alongside theatre training with leading Polish artists Jan Peszek, Grzegorz Bral, and Jacek Ozimek.
His choreographic practice is deeply cinematic. Scenic composition and lighting are not ornamental but structural — shaping how movement is perceived and felt. His works employ a mise-en-scène that draws on cinematic sensibility: choreography clothed in imagery and symbolism, where visual impact becomes a conduit for idea and emotion.
Mochniej’s solo and ensemble works have been presented at major festivals and venues throughout Poland, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, and Canada. His solo Just Po Prostu was named Best Performance by a Male Dancer by Dance in Europe, and his choreography Weselle became the most toured contemporary dance work in Poland. Mochniej is Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Calgary.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Melissa Monteros, Board President
Terry Bunce, Vice President
Steve Isom, Treasurer
Alèn Martel, Secretary
Laura Stiles, Director
FUNDERS
