Our first open house of the season will feature Berlin-based artist Ania Nowak and Dance is ancient’s artistic director Frédéric Gies. The event will present a thoughtfully curated program of performances, workshops, and conversations that are both poetic and political, and resolutely queer.
Price: Completely free of charge thanks to the support of Malmö stad, Region Skåne and Kulturrådet
Age restriction workshops: Adults (from 16 yo)
Age restriction performances: Recommended from age 10 and up
Language workshops & talk: English
Language performances: see below
Info: come for the whole day and evening, or at the beginning of each programme point
Note: the performances include partial nudity
Drop-in accepted in limit of available spots. Booking recommended.
PROGRAMME
14.00 · Impromptu by Frédéric Gies (performance/danced opening)
Presentation of the programme of Maison de la Danse in the form of a dance performance.
Language: English
14.30 - 15.30 · Interplay (Workshop with Ania Nowak)
In this workshop for everyone, regardless of skill levels, Ania Nowak shares aspects of her practice that explores the interplay between body and language. Sign up recommended
15.30 - 16.00 · Break
16.00 - 17.00 · Almost not ballet (Workshop with Frédéric Gies)
Frédéric shares their practice of using ballet movement vocabulary as a means of exploring and embodying anatomical structures. The workshop is open to everyone, regardless of skill levels. Sign up recommended
17.00 - 18.00 · Mingle + Buffet
Mingle and enjoy our buffet in the foyer
18.00 - 20.00 · Performances
Obelix Nutrix by Ania Nowak · Nowak's performance critically addresses the potential dilution of humaneness and empathy in nursing as digital tools become increasingly prevalent. Through spoken word, enhanced by a soundscape and strong costume, the performance invites the audience to contemplate the future of nursing. It speculates on how the essence of care might change as professions, including nursing, transition into digital realms, reflecting on the implications for public health systems.
Choreography and performance: Ania Nowak / Sound: Justyna Stasiowska / Costume: Grzegorz Matlag
Language: English
Deflecting Misfortune and Averting the Evil Eye by Frédéric Gies · Gies presents again their latest creation from last spring, a piece that delves into the ancient ritual of exposing one's buttocks. This exploration translates the practice into a dance, transforming it into a poetic and political gesture aimed at confronting and dispelling the myriad evils of today’s world.
Dance and choreography : Frédéric Gies / Music : Fiedel / Costume : Grzegorz Matlag
Language: none
Deep inside by Ania Nowak · In Deep Inside, Nowak looks at ecstasy. She juxtaposes house music and its lyrics with Baroque poetry and sculpturesque depictions of divine ecstasy. Using repetition, rhythm and content of both house music and Baroque texts to search for collective body and soul, she listens to voices that drove house rhythms to summon many long forgotten black singers, often marginalized due to their gender and race. Nowak speaks with the ghosts of those voices, honoring them as leaders and partners. For memory and ecstasy.
Text remix, choreography, performance: Ania Nowak / Sound: Justyna Stasiowska / Costume: Grzegorz Matląg/ Outside eye: Julia Plawgo/ Text excerpts from Frankie Knuckles (feat. Jamie Principle), “Your Love”; Fonda Rae, “Tuch Me” and “Living in Ecstasy”; Ellis D. Presents Boom-Boom, “Work This Pussy (Hurt Me Mix)”; Robin S, “Show Me Love”; Black Box, “Ride on Time”; House to House, “Taste My Love”; Crystal Waters, “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)”; Sonikku ft. LIZ (SOPHIE remix), “Sweat”; Rozalla, “Everybody’s Free”; Clivilles’ & Cole, “A Deeper Love (A Deeper Feeling Mix)”; Peech Boys “Don’t Make Me Wait”; Lope de Vega, “Various Effects of Love”; Francisco de Quevedo, “Love That Endures Beyond Death” / Production La Casa Encendida / Supported by Ankara Queer Art Program
Language: English
20.00 - 21.00 · Artist talk
Conversation with Ania Nowak and Frédéric Gies, led by August Norborg, PAGE 28.
Doors close at 21.30
Photos : Natalia Reich/ Haus für Poesie, Thomas Zamolo, Frédéric Gies
About Ania Nowak
Ania Nowak approaches vulnerability and desire as ways towards reimagining what bodies and language can and cannot do. Nowak develops formats such as live and video performance, installation and text. In her practice Ania engages with bodies in their nonlinear feeling and thinking capacity to tackle the difficulties of companionship and care in times of perpetual crisis. Her work attempts to reimagine the notions of disorder, pleasure, disease, intimacy, pain, sexuality, class and accessibility as sites of binary free living.
About Frédéric Gies
Frédéric Gies is a dancer, choreographer, and the artistic director of Dance is Ancient. Their dance pieces navigate between meticulous composition and the raw intensity and chaos generated by bodies surrendering to internal desires and external forces. Gies’ work highlights the power of dance to communicate without the need for representation. In their performances, bodies do not reinforce identities but instead uncover the complexity of their layers. Additionally, Gies' work is deeply intertwined with techno music, creating a unique and immersive experience.
About August Norborg
August Norborg (she/her) is a Malmö-based artist and curator, active among else as the cultural event curator for PAGE 28, the producer of concert series Kallelse at Inkonst as well as Rendered Voice Festival at Skissernas Museum, and performs electronic music under the moniker FASCIA. With a start in music, she specialises in interdisciplinary work and the interaction of artistic mediums. She is currently producing the dance work Surbending with Andreas Haglund.