The curatorial program Sensitivities of Dance highlights different contemporary approaches to encoding or decoding the art of dance, movement and sound by opening up conversations about the complex construction of interdisciplinary, cultural and movement identities. It looks at how capturing different layers of hybrid identities through the dancing body and associative sounds can lead to a counter-discourse on sociological, political, philosophical and physiological differences. The program invites international & local dancers and sound artists from different disciplines to en/decode their individual movement and sonic art practices together. Sensitivities of Dance and CULTURE ROOM invite you to step into a realm where magic and physicality intertwine, where the ethereal meets the tangible in a mesmerizing dance of poetry and movement. Join us for the latest edition: "Whispers of the Soul“, curated by Thomias Radin, featuring solo performances by Kristy Nataraja and Kristián Mensa with Alan Grezl during the 48h Neukölln Art Festival. Kristy, a weaver of ancient dance traditions with a modern twist, and Kristián, a visionary artist painting with movement, will transport you to a world where physical control becomes a symphony of originality. Allow their artistry to awaken your senses and ignite your imagination in an evening that promises to be nothing short of magical. The program will be enriched through a sound-performance by the legendary percussionist Tikogo and some smooth tunes to dance to from Stephane Peeps. On Sunday, 30th of June 2024 the two performers will host dance workshops for children and professionals from Berlin. The artistic program is completed by a dance battle, judged by the performers, moderated by Jumoke Adeyanju with musical support from DJ ITSHWHY: Express your Style / 1 vs 1 / Top 16 with open timing. This event was sponsored by Adidas Berlin with wonderful support by our wonderful location the Startbahn-Genezarethkirche. Sensi.Dance started in 2021 at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin. SAVVY is one of the most notorious contemporary art institutions focusing on highlighting art practices of artists from the global south. The curatorial programme highlights different contemporary approaches to encoding or decoding the art of dance, movement and sound by opening up conversations about the complex construction of interdisciplinary, cultural, movement identities. It looks at how capturing different layers of hybrid identities through the dancing body and associative sounds can lead to a counter-discourse on sociological, political, philosophical and physiological differences. Every year 2 international & local dancers and one sound artist from the African diaspora & different disciplines are invited to en/decode their individual movement/sonic art practices together. Moderated by Jumoke Adeyanju and Thomias Radin, profound questions are answered in the form of verbal language, movement language and music.
Kristián Mensa, also known as Mr. Kriss is a dancer and visual artist based in Prague, Czech Republic. He has been passionately exploring the possibilities of his body for more than 15 years, starting with breaking alongside his crew Opatow Flavours and later expanding individually into experimental dance and movement abstraction. Over the years, he has collaborated with unique artists such as Kylie Minogue, Yoann Bourgeois, Hania Rani, Akram Khan and Armand Amar. He has been featured in prestigious lists, including '20 under 20' by The HuffPost and '30 under 30' by Forbes. In recognition of his youthful determination and inspiration, Kristián Mensa was honored with a Silver Medal from the President of the Czech Senate. His life and work has been captured in documentary film “Who is Mr. Kriss?” (2021). In L'Acrobate et le Guitariste Kristián Mensa (dance) and Alan Grezl (live music) use different instruments to speak with the world, but they have the sensitivity to listen and connect. This duo will draw parallels between experimental breaking and flamenco music and erase any borders which might stand in the way of honest, passionate and inspiring non-verbal communication.
Kristy Nataraja is a multimedia embodiment artist, dancer and explorer with 18 years of experience, originally based in Ukraine. Her main aim is to mix Indian dance traditions with street dance techniques. In the context of her latest performance-program Masquerade, she explores her African roots by integrating masks of Central African cultures and fabrics in her artistic approach as tools and cultural objects that reflect her personal story. Before that she took part on the international battlefield, so first she was a street dancer. In 2017-2018 she held a range of educational street dance workshops in India and China and judged several festivals in experimental and street dance nominations. It was the moment when she found out about odissi and began to comprehend it. In 2018 she went to India to dive deeper into dance culture and learn the basics of odissi dance properly at the Indian Dance School “Sjran”. Her first guru there was Sujata Mohapatra. Her current dance method is based on a combination of street dance techniques and odissi. She also combines a lot of archaic elements together in her art and likes to bring original cultural ancient forms into modern plasticity. In October 2021 she was invited by the Bolshoy Theatre (Russian Federation) for a special educational research residency for choreographers 30+. It was a big honor to share her dance method, training vocabulary and program with professional dancers in the Alma Mater of ballet. In January to February 2022 she was invited by the NIKE residency in Russia to guide a process of creation of performance with selected dancers through her own research and training program. Her students visited museums, explored yoga and made a special analysis of their relationships with their body and surrounding environment. So a big part of her approach is to make creative people understand themself, to create their own relation to dance and body, to elaborate philosophy of the personal art world they are able to lay on. Movement labs, workshops for dancers at all levels are a core focus of her educational work. In 2021 she also performed on the stage of the Russian Gorky Theatre (MHAT) with her solo explorational performance «Bija». Indian culture inspires her a lot in its diversity, dance and mental patterns, so one of her performances she dedicated to the term “bija”. Bīja generates a tree, a pillar, signifying the verticality, the axis. The perception of the vertical axis is also found in the image of a human body. A human being is presented as the cosmic tree or column, where the Earth and the Sky unite. The performance gave deep kinetic, spiritual and emotional insight for audiences reimagining classical odissi forms through street dance interpretation.
Thomias L. Radin is a French-Guadeloupean multidisciplinary artist and curator based in Berlin. With a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Rennes 2, he has gained international recognition through his exhibitions and performances. Radin's body of work encompasses painting, performance, wood sculpture, and short film, all following a non-linear narrative that serves as a human diary, exploring themes of mental health, spirituality, geopolitics, cultural colonization, and epistemology. His unique fusion of dance and painting results in fragmented figures blending with vibrant Caribbean backgrounds, drawing inspiration from the ancient history of painting and humanity's intangible heritage. Influenced by his Guadeloupian homeland, Gwo Ka, hip-hop culture, and contemporary dance, Radin's movements reflect his experiences as a Black expatriate in Germany, employing the musical technique of sampling to depict fragments of memory and convey the essential elements of dance: intuition, intimacy, and vulnerability. Thomias Radin also curates the “Sensitivities of Dance”. A dance program he founded together with Jumoke Adeyanju in 2021 at SAVY Contemporary. This groundbreaking program delves into the profound questions surrounding dance and movement. Why do we dance? How does an instrument reflect our inner selves? How can we capture the essence of vibration and rhythm? These questions lead us to explore the messages encoded within movement practices and how we decode them. Sensitivities of Dance aims to shed light on various contemporary approaches to dance, movement, and sound, breaking free from traditional categorizations. It seeks to illuminate the beauty, intergenerational DNA, and technical relevance of folkloric dance, recentering it within the broader scope of dance techniques.
