The Bodies We Are (Not): A Choreographic Research on Practicing Self-Distancing (Critical Dance Studies)

In Western neo-liberal society, the human body is increasingly used as an »identity project« and »designable object«. Antje Velsinger investigates these specific roles of the body and develops choreographic strategies for becoming unfamiliar to the own self and play as two means for emancipating the body from the neo-liberal imperative of optimization and control. Theoretical and practical artistic perspectives are in constant dialogue throughout this study. It uses the choreographic field as a gray area between theory and practice to imagine, propose, and rehearse an alternative approach to the body.

Antje Velsinger works as a choreographer, performer and researcher in the field of contemporary performing arts. She studied choreography and performance at the Institute for Applied Theater Studies at Gießen University and completed her doctorate within the artistic-scientific graduate program »Performing Citizenship« at HafenCity University Hamburg. As the artistic director of »Antje Velsinger / new trouble«, she creates multimedia stage pieces, sound-video-installations, and various research labs. Besides her artistic work, her practice includes writing, teaching, and lecturing at different European universities and art schools.