Anna Krzystek: Facing The Experimental

If it wasn't for Nikki Millican and New Territories, there wouldn't be any of my work: it's a good place for me because the festival looks for more cutting edge work and they're not afraid to task risks. I would say my work is experimental.

I trained as a dancer – my first art form is dance. In some respects I always create dances. But I am not that inspired by dance. A lot of my inspiration comes from Live Art, visual art, music and theatre – to some extent. But I never trained in those forms, so everything I do is rooted in dance. It allows me to explore different territories.

As a jobbing dancer, I worked for other choreographers: around then, I realised I had to explore something else, and the only way I could do that was to do it myself. So, I made a life changing decision to not work for anyone else.

The idea of making and performing the work was quite important, but I don't see my work as solos. I have different media involved: video, sound and the space itself. And there's the exchange with the audience.

My work is minimalist, my appreciation of paring away the excess. I start from ideas: I try to embody them, and encourage my musician to find the sounds. The fun thing is exploring each medium in relation to the idea. It is excruciating at times – we are in a process of finding!

I am not connected to anywhere. I perform more in Europe now than in Scotland. But Tramway 4 has influenced me, because of its beautiful depth. Tramway commissioned a piece in 2000, and I have learned a great deal about using depth: most stages are wider than they are deep, and that conditions my work.

New Territories is the only festival in Glasgow that feeds me artistically, so I try to attend as much as possible. It gives me a perspective as to where I can place my work. In a small country like Scotland you can feel closed in, but the international companies give me food for thought. That's not to say I like everything, but I do appreciate Nikki's programming!