Ligia Lewis: study now steady

In the organizer's words:

Bodies lie twisted on the floor. They look like sculptures. First slow, then jerky movements break them out of their torpor. Their twitches become choreographed loops. From their isolation, they come together to form temporary communities: social sculptures characterized by repetition and memory.

For the entire duration of the festival, the International DANCE Festival Munich and Haus der Kunst are presenting the European premiere of the performative installation study now steady by US choreographer Ligia Lewis. Every opening day, the performers will carry out ritualized choreographic patterns in the South Gallery of Haus der Kunst. Exercises in repetition and duration that tell stories of racism, violence and resistance. This creates a shared space with the audience in which performers and audience become aware of what it means to be exposed to the gaze of the other.

In addition to the daily three-hour performances, two video works by Ligia Lewis will also be shown as part of study now steady: The film version of her performance A Plot, / A Scandal, which was invited to Tanzplattform Deutschland in 2024. In the video installation, which was created in northern Italy, Ligia Lewis traces the ghosts of colonialism using the story of her own great-grandmother Lolón Zapata. In doing so, she exposes the violent ideas of whiteness and property of the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke and points to his involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. In addition, the video work deader than dead can be seen, which opens the International DANCE Festival Munich as a live performance.

Performances: The performances take place on the opening days of Haus der Kunst (except June 1) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for 180 minutes in three loops of one hour each, entry and exit is possible at any time.