24 February 2024, 4.30 PM
25 February 2024, 4.00 PM

Tickets

The format FEMALE GAZE invites choreographers to present their contemporary positions to oppose the male gaze and a traditional patriarchal view associated with it. Under the artistic direction of Carolin Brandl, artists Alexandra Bachzetsis, Ula Sickle, Oona Doherty, Tyra Wigg, Stellan Veloce and others come together in the Schinkel Pavillon in a unique constellation with their choreographic works and individual perspectives.

In a game of puzzles, FEMALE GAZE will present works that offer multiple perspectives, creating an awareness of the space shared by performers and viewers.
Female gaze, originally a term from feminist film theory, expands perspectives and questions basic patriarchal premises such as the binary gender construct.
The artists explore bodies and their representation, the micropolitical power of gestures, (voyeuristic) gaze relations and stereotypes, in which they decipher codes and common attributions. Furthermore, the performances visualize how the concept of the female gaze has changed over time so that works can be reinterpreted and the gaze of the viewer can be included. All of the invited artists share a common background in choreographic practice, but also their cross-genre work of translating experimental approaches into performative art.

Timetable:

Saturday, 24 February 2024, 4.30 PM

Choreographer Tyra Wigg (they/them) (S/CH) together with cellist Stellan Veloce (IT) (they/them) focuses on empathy and care in “The Strokes (25 min), aiming to bring about a subjective change in the audience’s perception of the body.

In “Holding Present” (25min), Ula Sickle (CAN/B) and Ictus explore how an individual gesture can become a collective act. “Holding Present” at the Schinkel Pavillon is a new adaptation of the work that premiered at the Centre Pompidou, here for three performers, weaving in a composition by Alvin Lucier and a modular synthesizer, with Amanda Barrio Charmelo, Marina Delicado and Sara Neidorf.

With “Hope Hunt” (35 min), Oona Doherty (Ireland /FR), together with performer Sati Veyrunes, breaks down the facades of stereotypical masculinity, aggression and anger of the young working class in her home town of Belfast. Doherty´s performance of multiple identities in one body starts in front of the Schinkel Pavillon and slowly moves indoors. Subsequently, performer and musician Maxime Jerry Fraisse will play a DJ set complementary to the programme.

Sunday, February 25, 4.00 PM
Alexandra Bachzetsis’ “Perfect”, (solo performance, 45 min)

Alexandra Bachzetsis (GR/CH) deals with vignettes of stereotypical reality and “accidental pornography”. According to Bachzetsis, the solo performance in the Schinkel Pavillon can be viewed as a “new post-feminist sketch for the perception of movement” by way of deconstructing conventional notions of femininity and eroticism.

Images from left to right:
Alexandra Bachzetsis, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: Diana Pfammatter. Ula Sickle, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: Bart Grietens. Tyra Wigg, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: Carla Scheiffer. Oona Doherty, Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Luca Truffarelli

FEMALE GAZE is supported by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds.

Oona Doherty’s work was additionally supported by the Institut Français,
Ula Sickle’s work by the Canada Council for the Arts, Belgian Federal Government, Flanders State of Art, Alexandra Bachzetsis’ work (first version) supported by Vooruit Ghent and Beursschouwburg BXL. Tyra Wigg’s work was supported by Abteilung Kultur Basel-Stadt.