Queer theory meets the queer body in these workshops. This smattering of queer artists bridges queer writing practices with queer bodybased practices. Drawing upon the varied performative interests and inspirations of the teaching artists, the workshops touch upon text, sound, witchcraft, impulse, free association, and movement.

These workshops are for folks with none to a lot of performance experience. Come see what inspirations and mini-spectacles are always-already burgeoning in your queer bodies.

Workshops are $10 each, all money goes to support the teacher and the space. Drop-in or take all of them. Space is very limited, so pre-registration strongly encouraged. Please send an email with your name and a quick tidbit about yourself to whatisqueerperformance@gmail.com.

iele paloumpis / FRI JUNE 13TH / 7P – 9P

Witchcraft – A Corporeal Practice

Over the past two years, changes in my health and body shifted the ways I approach dance and daily life. Without concrete answers from doctors or various bodyworkers, I began looking to witchcraft and earth-based rituals as somatic practices of integration, acceptance and healing. I’ve also been thinking a lot about how all bodies – whether elderly, disabled, or otherwise “different” – can enter into dance. For this workshop, we will look to magical herbs, astrology and the lunar calendar, as well as our own unique and defiant bodies, to generate restorative movement. Come with an awareness of something you might like to shed, heal and/or embrace.

Please contact me if you have any accessibility needs, including allergies/sensitivities to various herbs and smells. Also, if you are pregnant/breast feeding and wouldn’t mind sharing this information with me, I would like to touch base with you to make sure we’re on the same page about safer herbal usage. Email: dpaloumpis@gmail.com

This workshop is for anyone interested in connecting to their bodies. There will be time to improvise and make movement, but mostly I want to make sure folks get whatever they want out of this workshop. If dancing or improvising feels intimidating/not right in the moment, participants can engage in other equally valid ways (i.e.: through writing, drawing, observing etc). Generally, I will encourage everyone to take part in a group improvisation/movement practice (simply because I think feeling our bodies in motion is so important), but this can manifest in multiple ways and it’s totally at your discretion. Overall, the goal during this workshop is to tune into our bodies in whatever ways feel good to us as individuals.

If you’re a writer/drawer – please bring a journal/sketchbook and something to write with.

bio

iele is a disabled, trans*/queer dance artist, choreographer, and teacher. Their work has been presented in New York through Movement Research, New York Live Arts, the Flea, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and Dixon Place, in Pennsylvania at the Painted Bride Art Center, FLUXspace, Studio 34, The Community Education Center, Vox Populi, and the Philadelphia GLBT Arts Festival, in Maryland at the Lof/t, and in Connecticut at Franklin Street Works. iele has had the pleasure of dancing for niv Acosta, devynn emory, Jen McGinn, Emily Wexler and Nina Winthrop, among others. As an educator of 9 years, they’ve taught movement improvisation and composition, as well as dance theory and critique. iele has practiced various forms of neo-paganism since age 13 and is now exploring the immense healing properties of witchcraft and ritual as bodily practices. They have served on numerous panels and facilitated discussions centered on issues of identity, perception and performance. In 2010, iele was a co-recipient of The Leeway Foundation’s Art and Social Change Grant. They felt fortunate to be a 2012-13 Studio Series Resident Artist at New York Live Arts, as well as work under the mentorship of Trajal Harrell through the Queer Art Mentorship Program. This past December, they concluded a 2013 Fall Space Grant residency at Brooklyn Arts Exchange. At the center of their practice are ideas exploring body politics and artist self-empowerment. For more information visit https://about.me/iele.paloumpis.