Leeds Workshop

The second professional development workshop of Performing Gender took place in Leeds from the 20th October to the 26th October. The Yorkshire Dance hosted the every-day lessons for 10 emerging UK dancers guided by the Slovenian dance artist Nataša Živković and the dramaturg Tanya Steinhauser.

Nataša’s research was into an unusual phenomenon; the ‘sworn-virgins’ of Montenegro. Since medieval times in remote, in the strongly patriarchal villages, if the head of a household dies without a male heir, one of his daughters may choose to become a man. But this ‘privilege’ comes at a price…

In the workshop, the dancers investigated their private, social, biological and empathic bodies and explored how to inhabit and express all of these in movement. They considered the importance of the equation of personal=political when addressing the topic of gender. They worked with the private and the public body, hierarchies and power structures practicing feminism-feminist activism in motion!

The ten dancers joining were Stephanie Donohoe, Tora Hed, Charlotte Jones, Marie Koehl, Jemma Mae, Olivia Paddison, Maria Popova, Imogen Molly Reeve, Reynaldo Jr Santos and Emily Snow. You can read more about them here.

The final sharing took place on the 26th of October.

Read the interview with Nataša and Tanya here!

Photo Gallery