With THE LIONS, Jessica Nupen creates a compelling work with 4 dancers, interrogating the appropriation and counter­culture spirit of her generation, known for mastering the art of improvisation and rejecting hierarchies. Looking beyond traditional spaces and theories of race and cultural appropriation she investigates the textures of identity and hybridity, vandalising the notion of the 'true self'. 

THE LIONS disentangles the identity complexities of four international dancers and their individual challenges of choice, expression and assimilation against the backdrop of a complex socio­-political landscape. Looking beyond traditional spaces and structures, the performers create a re­-reflection of themselves in response to the space.

Nupen examines the textures and fabrics of identity and hybridity, vandalising the notion of the 'true self'. Rebelling against the limitations of identity­-based art by embracing multi­culturalism and contemporary counter­culture, she investigates the fluid sense of connectivity the dancers have with their shifting environment whilst debasing the comforting myth of the stable identity.

An organ of the millennials, Nupen creates a wildly dynamic piece unpicking the golden seams of societal expectations of the individual in a symbolic self­ reconstruction.

trailer

Doors 19h

Concept & Choreography | Jessica Nupen
 Technical Design | Lars Rubarth
 Projection Technical | Tobi Butendiek 
Visuals | Steve Thomas
 Photography | Tanja Hall 
With and by:  Serge Desroches, Monique Smith­-Mcdowell, Marcelo Dono & Jessica Nupen