Performances von Chiara Bartl-Salvi & Laura Schönlau, soft intentions

In the organizer's words:

☆ The performance evening is embedded in the supporting program of the exhibition soft intentions, curated by Amelie Gappa. ☆

PROGRAM

7 pm, performance: Laura SchönlauUNFOLDING

UNFOLDING is a performance about the complex, flowing power of softness - physically and emotionally. Tenderness appears gentle, vulnerable, loving and equally irritating, controlling and painful. What do we not see in our soft moments? Her solo performance explores softness as a paradoxical force between vulnerability and strength, care and control. Movements unfold like echoes of a gesture or touch, intimate, contradictory and transformative.

8 pm, performance: Chiara Bartl-SalviSoftspot

In Softspot, Chiara Bartl-Salvi explores the connection between movement, sound and material in the context of temporality and fragility. By using her shoes as a dance tool, in Softspot the floor becomes a narrative instance and an archive of material changes. Friction with the surface is a central element of choreography and sound - an interaction of fleeting intensity in which the clash of forces leaves visible but also audible traces. Friction as a physical process, sometimes gentle, sometimes hard - but also as an interaction with urban landscapes. Softspot quotes TikTok choreographies and music videos, moving playfully between model and imitation.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Chiara Bartl-Salvi (she/her) is a choreographer, performer and visual artist who lives and works in Vienna. She studied art and media at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and now works in an interdisciplinary way. She has been involved with both music and dance since her youth. During her studies in Vienna, she became fascinated by spaces, objects and, in particular, stage architecture. Her works combine classical dance forms with pop culture and viral trends and have been shown at WUK performing arts in Vienna, Kunstverein Eisenstadt and nova space Weimar, among others. As a performer, she has already worked with Donna Huanca, Malin Bülow and the Freispiel company, among others.

Laura Schönlau (she / her) is a German-Ghanaian dancer and choreographer who lives and works in Cologne. She completed her artistic training with a Bachelor of Arts in the Contemporary-Urban and Choreography Department at the Fontys Academy of the Arts in Tilburg, Netherlands. Her work moves at the intersection of rhythm and fluidity, vulnerability and power. Each gesture is an exploration of the body's ability to connect, express and transform. In terms of content, she deals with aspects of corporeality, femininity and site-specificity and attempts to understand the relationship and interdependence between body and space, as well as social structures, by deconstructing movements. Most recently, she was a guest dancer in ANACONDA by Reut Shemesh at the Stadttheater Gießen and performed in IN MY FEELINGS (LIFE IS A JUNGLE) by Khadidiatou Bangoura / Horacio Macuacua. She also choreographed and performed the solo piece SEEING/ NOT SEEING at the Britney X Festival 2024 at Schauspiel Köln.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition soft intentions is about softness in all its facets: about soft, textile materials, but also about physicality, emotionality, vulnerability, emotional labor and care work. A soft experiment, a space for action guided by tenderness, closeness and attentive interaction. An invitation to explore the extent to which softness can also be resistant.

The exhibition builds on the artistic work We in the Cave by Cologne-based artist Sophia Schach in the cave. Wir in der Höhle is not only a walk-in installation, but also a stage for an extensive, interdisciplinary program with performances, workshops, concerts and reading sessions.

The exhibition is curated by Amelie Gappa as part of the 10th anniversary of the intersectional-feminist initiative And She Was Like: BÄM!