H A U T

Spine Of Desire: Wounds without tears, out of one skin in diamonds and shit

From personal narratives to an experience with sonic, visual, spatial and dancing elements. 

Format: WORKSHARING
Genre: Choreography and dance

Date: May 2nd 2024
Time: 4:00-6:00PM
Place: Black box at Udviklingsplatformen
Baldersgade 6, 2200 København N

Participation in the event is FREE, but please reserve your spot as seats are limited – you can book a ticket right here:

Photographer: Matias Rocha Moura 

The artistic research

In the research "Spine Of Desire: Wounds without tears, out of one skin in diamonds and shit" the artist Stanley Ollivier and his collaborator Mamadou Wague reflects on the interrelations between the intimate, the body, and on the creation of a guarded, safe space. They take the community building power of POC belonging spaces as a starting point in order to reformulate traditional choreographic approaches. It is a research that explore everyday reality and social changes through a danced language that starts from the human instinct, and the need to express oneself through a concrete bodily experience. 

It was Stanley's personal experience in the underground cultural scene and other POC belonging spaces that made him realize how central community and care are. Being a dancer of color in Belgium-France, he had to find alliances in a ‘mined landscape’ in order to feel safe and supported to pursue his artistic work. However, affects associated with POC in cultural production often refer to struggle, suffering, discrimination. Stanley want to counter that white gaze into POC communities by focusing on other, often disregarded emotions such as joy, calmness, rest, contemplative or eclectic energy.

Following the sharing of physical material, HAUT will facilitate a moderated feedback conversation where you as an audience have the opportunity to contribute to and enrich the artists' further work.

The artists

For this new project, Stanley is working with close collaborators with whom he already share similar work and human values, which already offers a feeling of security to deeply explore these intimate thematics. Together they seek to find various approaches that revolve around respect, invitation to dialogue, decolonization of dance and care practices.

Stanley Ollivier
Stanley's website  Entwined website

Photographer: Miguel Soll

Mamadou Wague

Photographer: Matias Rocha Moura

Credits and collaborators

Concept, Artistic Direction: Stanley Ollivier 
Choreography/Performance: Mamadou Wague, Lily Brieu Nguyen, Stanley Ollivier 
Costumes: Godwin Agossah
Scenography: Lou Cocody-Valentino
Artistic Assistant: Audrey Merilus
Production: Hiros
With the residency support of: Workspacebrussels, Gouvernment Gent, Le Bamp, TanzHaus Zürich 

About this residency

IN CONNECTION is HAUT’s residency format that gives Danish performing artists the opportunity of a residency with one of HAUT’s international partners. The format is shaped in response to the artist’s and the project’s needs. The residency is aimed at Denmark-based artists interested in working internationally and for international artists interested in working in Denmark.

Stanley Ollivier and his collaborator Mamadou Wague were invited into a two week IN CONNECTION residency at HAUT in Denmark with the artistic project "Spine of Desire: Wounds without tears out of one skin in diamonds and shit". This opportunity blossomed out of HAUT's long term collaboration with workspacebrussels – laboratory for research, experiment & creation in the performing arts. The two organisations also provide the danish-based artists Sall Lam Toro, suziethecockroach and Keiria Hissabu two weeks of residency at workspacebrussels this spring to work on their artistic project "BODY TONGUES: TECHNO_RAGE".

This residency is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, the Bikuben Foundation and the Municipality of Copenhagen.