Workshop

Pleasure Body

22 Jun 2019 – 23 Jun 2019

Event times

12-4pm

Cost of entry

£35 / £25 (conc)

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Siobhan Davies Studios

London, United Kingdom

Address

Travel Information

  • By Bus: 1, 35, 40, 45, 63, 68, 100, 133, 155, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 196, 333, 343, 363, 468, P5
  • By Tube: Northern Line (Elephant & Castle), Bakerloo Line (Lambeth North, Elephant & Castle)
  • By Rail: Waterloo Station, Elephant & Castle
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A two day workshop celebrating womxn, femmes, queer, trans, non-binary, intersex, (gender) non-conforming, marginalized people (++).

About

Sat 22 June, 12-4pm & Sun 23 June, 12pm - 4pm (two day workshop)

Bursary places available, please read below. 

Pleasure Body is a workshop.

The workshop is dedicated to the celebration of womxn, femmes, queer, trans, non-binary, intersex, (gender) non-conforming, marginalized people (++)

Pleasure Body wants to be a space in which rest and pleasure are acknowledged as tools for resistance, as well as grounds through which we can reclaim our bodies away from cis-temic policing and the patriarchal white-centric heteronormative gaze.

Sparking from the notion that womxn/femmes/queer/trans/non-binary/intersex/gender non conforming + people experience (therefore internalize and assimilate) systemic oppression, violence and trauma more than cisgender heteronormative white people, and that this translates in a series of somatic depressions and affects our chances of accessing pleasure, rest, joy and mental health, Pleasure Body focuses on recognizing where this burden is held in the body and on strategies to unpack and release it.

During the workshop, Giorgia Ohanesian Nardin interlaces their somatic studies as a mover with SWANA (South-West Asian and North African) rituals, practices and dances. The dances and rituals they are referring to here have been part of the SWANA tradition for centuries, dating back to before Armenia was converted to Christianity in the 4 CE. 

Before colonization, orientalism and western body-policing, what are today marked as “Oriental Dances” where in fact fundamental practices of experiencing and living the body. These dances are characterized by circular, wavy movements of the pelvis and deep, grounding vibrations of the hips, ass and centre and were considered sacred forms of celebration, self-determination, contraception and abortion, as well as a way to orgasm.

Reclaiming space and feeling through these practices is for Giorgia Ohanesian Nardin a political act and a form of resistance to the erasure, silencing and patriarchal indoctrination that our bodies have undergone, both as queer and gender non-conforming people as well as diasporic and colonized folxs.

Pleasure Body presents as two days of being slow as resistance to capitalist work and learning patterns, of softness as artillery in times of crisis, of reading and writing manifestos to find and invent new names for ourselves, of accessing somatic practices from a queer and transfeminist perspective, of dancing/sleeping/ touching/vibrating/crying only if you want to and doing things only if you want to, of exercising consent, of centering pleasure as a driving force and rest as a fundamental right.

  • the workshop doesn’t require any specific knowledge or previous training in dance, performance, or any sport;
  • there is no age limit to participate;
  • all body shapes, sizes and abilities are welcome;
  • photos and filming are not allowed during the workshop;
  • any sexist, racist, ableist, homo/transphobic,terf, body andslut shaming behaviour or comments will not be tolerated. 
 

This will be an exclusive space. If you intend to book, please send a few lines about your desire to participate to info@giorgianardin.com and lastyearzinterestingnegro@gmail.com.

Participants of Pleasure Body are invited to an evening of reflection on Tuesday 25th June between 7pm and 10pm.

Bursary places available - BAME people and Trans POC can get in touch with Nancy at nancy@siobhandavies.com if they would like to join but the fee makes it inaccessible.

Georgia Nardin was invited by the Siobhan Davies Dance 2019/20 Torchlight Artist Jamila Johnson-Small/Last Yearz Interesting Negro.

Exhibiting artistsToggle

Georgia Nardin

Jamila Johnson-Small

Last Yearz Interesting Negro

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