Performance Night

UNFOLDING is a performance about the complex, fluid power of softness—both physical and emotional. Tenderness appears gentle, vulnerable, loving, and equally irritating, controlling, and painful. What do we fail to see in moments of softness? The solo explores softness as a paradoxical force that oscillates between vulnerability and strength, care and control. Movements unfold like echoes of a gesture or touch; intimate, contradictory, and transformative. First developed and performed as part of the exhibition soft intentions, curated by Amelie Gappa (And She Was Like: BÄM!), UNFOLDING takes on a new spatial interpretation at the FFT Düsseldorf. Laura Schönlau translates the solo into the specific atmosphere and architecture of the venue, revealing further levels of a soft and ambivalent force.

What do Sarah Baartman, Afrikaner women in post-apartheid South Africa, and the Völkerschauen have in common? Employing the form of the „non sequitur,“ a narrative device that makes abrupt thematic leaps, this performance attempts to uncover the past in order to make the present comprehensible. In the sight of the artist’s performing body and through the presence of the audience, pasts and presents, shaped by intersectionality, intertwine.

This duet, created and performed by Kenza Kabisso and Leslie, also known as Freesoul, explores the hidden layers of human experience: masks, fear, and the truth of the body. The work investigates how we present ourselves to the world, the subtle movements we hide, and the inner spaces constrained by fear and social norms.
Masks represent the gestures and postures we show to others, polished, controlled, performative. Beneath these visible movements, micro-movements carry our unspoken truths. Fear drives us to conceal, to retract, to fragment our gestures, creating a tension between what is seen and what is felt. This performance gradually unfolds toward the body’s liberation and the opening of the heart. Through careful attention to the internal landscape, we explore how the body may release itself from hidden spaces, allowing authentic, spontaneous movement to emerge.

The audience is invited to witness the subtle tension of what is hidden and the profound moment when truth breaks through, creating a visceral experience of shared vulnerability and freedom.

A solo inspired by the flower arranging practice of Ikebana. Or rather by its meditative aspect – “Kado”, the way of the flower. Waithera creates a moment in time in which simplicity and transience give space to all the silent wars within us. Between sky and earth, the third party – the human – forms the connection. Three elements that shall be arranged in balance with each other while they also have their own space. A harmony yearned for in these days.
Cruel, silent beauty, attentively held. We are invited to enter a morphing landscape that gives room to sit in our silences and forces us to listen to what lies beneath. No distractions, no way out. What is in balance or out of balance must be heard. A fleeting moment, a mirror to our souls.

The project idea is entitled “Solitude” and deals with the question of how one can feel lonely despite the presence of many people around them. How can one have a family and still feel lonely? How can one have friends but still eat alone? How does one define community when one feels isolated inside? These questions are at the heart of my artistic work and reflect the contradictions and tensions between loneliness and community, especially in relation to my experiences as part of a large family in Cameroon and my current reality. By exploring these themes, she wants to initiate a dialogue about the different facets of community and belonging.

SUM is a transdisciplinary performance art project by dancer / performer Kelvin Kilonzo and musician / performer Pablo Giw, based in Cologne. While targeting reduction and deceleration with a persisting presence of threat, SUM creates an atmosphere of intense devotion and timelessness. Working with elements of nonhuman perspectives and posthuman gestures, the observer is invited to question their own identities.