{"id":6932,"date":"2022-08-09T09:54:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T07:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associazioneculturalenexus.org\/portfolio-items\/performing-gender"},"modified":"2024-08-09T09:55:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T07:55:24","slug":"performing-gender","status":"publish","type":"creativo_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/associazioneculturalenexus.org\/en\/portfolio-items\/performing-gender\/","title":{"rendered":"Performing Gender"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Co-creating a space and an artistic path among people who, at a first glance, are very different from each other. This was one of the first challenges that\u00a0<\/span>Gender Bender \/ Il Cassero LGBTI+ Center<\/span><\/a>\u00a0took on with the project Performing Gender \u2013 Dancing In Your Shoes<\/b>, in which Simona Bertozzi<\/b> and Aristide Rontini | Nexus Factory<\/b> were involved between November 2021 and September 2022<\/b>.<\/span> \nThe experience in weaving relationships inside a community \u2013 that has been gained in many years of activism and cultural policies \u2013 faces the ultimate test:\u00a0the challenge is giving birth to a group of people without identity labels that is able to create for themselves the glue that sticks them together. \nTherefore, in the first stage of the project the ambitious goal was to question ourselves on\u00a0identities \u2013 those that are personal\u00a0to each participant\u00a0and the social ones\u00a0that some of us shared \u2013 asking ourselves what really brings us closer \u2013 is it \u201cidenticalities\u201d or common visions, enriched and not limited by the diversity within the group. \nIn order to nourish this debate, in the first few months the door was open for anybody to enrol in the workshops, that were\u00a0hosted in different spaces\u00a0throughout the city of Bologna<\/b> and in collaboration with many associations, so that people from the most diverse backgrounds could participate. \nAn open space in which one could\u00a0experiment physical practices, dances, and \u2013 say \u2013 a longer prospective on sharing without being productive. In time, a group of people has bonded, one that was always open to welcome new participants and share how it is possible to\u00a0stay together in a safe space. \nThe language of dance, the physical practices that were proposed, and the attention to any specificity within the group were the common ground in which everyone could be free and aware of their body and self-expression. \nThe workshops in this process were led by\u00a0<\/span>Simona Bertozzi<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Daniele Ninarello<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Aristide Rontini<\/span><\/a>, who over the months led the participants in refining\u00a0a way of listening that was sensitive to themselves, the others, and the group as a community.<\/span> \nOther pivotal moments of this journey were also the opportunities for meeting up outside the workshops, such as watching shows together, the group’s participating in the Pride parade in Bologna, and, in September 2022<\/b>, attending on a regular basis the performances of Gender Bender Festival and participating in the\u00a0<\/span>Performing Gender \u2013 Dancing In Your Shoes Summer Camp<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/b>.<\/span> \nThe latter was also a chance to\u00a0meet the other international artists of the project, and get to know through them the experiences the other involved communities\u00a0had gained \u2013 also by living the space of the festival and\u00a0sharing physical practices, group performances, dinners and parties. \n<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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