In bodyride a group of performers explore the radical nature of a body embedded in Ballroom culture through choreographic scores executed to soundscapes juxtaposing sacred music, ballroom beats and otherworldly sounds. Ballroom — as a space created by Black and Latinx trans people to celebrate their community and mock, and thus transgress, the norms surrounding hegemonic structures — is understood here as a reservoir of BIPOCQ ancestral knowledge. What can a body — driven by this ancestral resistance — do to stay visible and alive in a political and economic system perpetuating violence against marginalised communities? Catwalks, duckwalks, hands performance, spin and dips, posing, runway walks and other elements of Ballroom physicality are a myriad of techniques and states, a collective language aimed at training a dissident body and reclaiming a stolen political agency.

Christopher Bullen aka Kris Eshu 007 (they/them) is an Afropean movement artist, dancer, voguer and yoga teacher. They started learning Vogue in 2015 and specialize in Vogue (New Way) performance. Judging and performing across Europe, organizing balls, giving workshops, promoting Ballroom and creating more spaces for queer BIPoC community. They have collaborated as a performer with Joy Alpuerto Ritters, Jay Ravell, Kiani del Valle, Franka Marlene Froth, Georgina Philp and Sophie Yukiko Hasters.

Púca (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist working across video, scenography, performance, animation & sound design. Púca’s practice layers digital technology and cyberspace with live performance and real-world spatial design. Her work seeks to explore the contradictions presented by the physical/virtual binary, with a special dedication to serving cunt as a member of the Kiki house Maison Laveaux. She has done sound design for an Irish entry at the Prague Quadrennial 2019 and an Installation sound design at Dream Community Taipei 2019.

Felipe C. Faria (any pronouns) is a Brazilian dance artist based in Berlin since 2019. Interested in exploring the possibilities of movement landscapes as their main channel of expression and meditative states. In Europe they have worked as a performer in collaboration with Anja Kozik, Paula Rosolen, caner teker and Alex Baczyński-Jenkins. In the Berlin ballroom scene, they are “eleven 007” and walk sex siren, old way and vogue fem.

Anh Kho (they/them) is a non-binary, Vietnamese German multidisciplinary artist. They are to be seen as a guest actor in the series Love Addicts (Amazon Prime), as one of the leads in the new mini-series Nackt über Berlin (WDR, ARTE) and in the Ballroom TV Show We Are Family (ZDF Neo). Anh Khoa worked as a dancer (OldWay Vogue)/model in the Reimagine your Style campaign by Nike and the Mugler x H&M collection in Berlin. In Ballroom they are known as Khoriander from the House of Elle. They have been walking, winning and making moments all over Europe in the category OldWay.

[Source: sophiensaele.com]

TFB Nr. 1841