Dance and choreography leaves traces on your body, and they are often physical and concrete: growing muscles or the trauma of injuries. But the repetition and memory of movements also leave traces. The choreographies of the past continue to dwell in the dancer’s body. In the solo Body of Work, Daniel Linehan explores these traces in his own body.

To round up TO AUTHENTICITY… AND BEYOND!, we invite performance theorist Bojana Cvejić for a final talk, followed by a conversation with Prof. Rudi Laermans. Laermans wrote the essay Be(come) yourself!, which marked the beginning of this season’s series on authenticity.

Five dancers – including Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker herself – adapt, question and dance Bach’s six Cello Suites, performed by the world-renowned cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras. Their ingenious architecture, rhythmic vitality and timeless beauty continue to fascinate people today.

According to Dutch philosopher Thijs Lijster, in today’s complex world, we increasingly think of society as an ‘outside world’. Against the idea that history is something which happens to us, he champions the collective ability to make history.

Léa Drouet finds a spot in Kanal that she transforms into an area for play and experimentation for her six performers. Like a social laboratory, the piece tests the process involved in composing and disbanding groups. Infinite (re)arrangements of bodies and stage elements define new social rules like alternatives to the sole principles of inclusion and exclusion.

body as oracle, a trance, a rhythmic interface, an atmosphere, a landscape with the texture of my current mental state. a dance informed by everything and everyone i have ever encountered, seen, heard, felt, been beside that has become part of me, as i try to identify my own voice. and then see if i can stand it. nothing ever really goes away.

In this tribute to Ian White (1971-2013), Jimmy Robert investigates the worlds of disco and death. Expect a critical meditation on the legacy of the 1980s with a specific focus on AIDS, activism, gender and race. 

To open Performatik19, Tate Modern performance curator Catherine Wood discusses her recently published book Performance in Contemporary Art with artist Jimmy Robert. Curator Daniel Blanga-Gubbay will moderate the conversation.