Now & Next

Chella ca guarda n'terra aims to question and reformulate the concept of vulgarity and its common understanding in relation to female read bodies. Power, irony, vulnerability and sensuality animate dance as an instrument of reappropriation.
The project aesthetically refers to the Neapolitan cultural context, including dialect, gestures, postures and behaviours which are generally labelled as “vulgar” when enacted by a female read individual. Those elements are investigated and proposed as means to dismantle the movement and behavioural patterns which are stereotypically associated with femininity, transmitted and imposed both in the private and in the public context. Chella ca guarda n'terra is a journey of anger, suffering, joy and acceptance, in which movement and dialect are explored as tools for subversion and collective liberation.

Brunella Sabatino (She/Her) is a dance artist based in Essen and originally from Napoli, Italy. She holds a B.A. in Contemporary Dance from Accademia Nazionale di Danza in Rome, and an M.A. in Tanzkomposition/Interpretation from Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen. She approaches artistic practice as an opportunity to deal with the unspoken, challenge societal norms and promote communication and empathy. Her current projects and interests are based on collaboration and interdisciplinarity, investigating and challenging concepts of normativity, language and gender roles. Together with Maria Savva, she is the co-founder of the performance collective “Liquid Centre”.

Choreography & Dance: Brunella Sabatino; Sound: Victoria Stellpflug; dramaturgical support: Maria Savva, costume: Kora Hamm

GORGONA is a contemporary dance piece featuring three dancers. Inspired by the aesthetics of music videos, GORGONA imagines a utopian space in which bodies possess a sexual identity beyond patriarchal structures. In this exploration, dance becomes a creative outlet for self-empowerment and the (re)appropriation of sexuality and eroticism – conceived as sources of freedom and strength.

KORA HAMM is a choreographer, dancer/performer and costume designer. After graduating in costume design (HAW Hamburg, 2021), she completed a second bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance at the University of Music and Dance Cologne (July 2025). Her practice is interdisciplinary, combining choreography, performance and costume. Her work is consistently informed by a feminist perspective, which is already embedded in the rehearsal process. During her studies, she created works such as NOCTUM, Kiltra and Angels_Project. For her piece GORGONA, supported by her dance therapy training (Fluentbody, 2023), she developed her own dance language that oscillates between myth, eroticism, and intensity.

Concept/Choreography/Costume/Performance: Kora Hamm; Co-Creation/Performance: Stella Schirra and Luise Maya Menges; Dramaturgy: Charlotte Pfingsten; Music: Nicolas Berge; Photo Credits: Jamin Fischbach

How does hip hop move? And who moves hip hop? In a culture that has existed for 53 years, spread widely and manifested in the masses, Yasmine reaches out to create a dialogue with Bahar to explore these questions. Reflecting on their first encounters and inspirations within their hip hop journeys, their research engages with personal, traditional, and regional perspectives. Focusing on the womxn of the scene, they acknowledge the influential forebearers who carry the culture from generation to generation, nurturing its transcendence.

Bahar and Yasmine explore the topic on a physical level by playing with the idea of transitions in grooves - how one groove organically and seamlessly flows into the next, and what is needed for this transition to occur and take shape. They embody concepts of knowledge, culture, music, and dance that are passed down, carried forward, and lived through hip hop culture.

Yasmine Calasse is a South African contemporary and hip hop dancer, educated at Johannesburg’s Dance Factory and at the Peridance Centre in New York City. She is strongly influenced by the street dance scene, which also shows in the political and social consciousness of her works. As a dancer, she has worked with choreographers, namely, Stephanie Thiersch, Willie Stark, Ching Ching Wong, Ihsan Rustem, Jennifer Archibald, Elisabetta Minutoli, Rayboom, and Jasmin Halper. Yasmine Calasse is the co-producer of AFIA and founder of Relgnite Sessions. Yasmine is currently touring NRW with her piece “It’s not what you think, allow me to clarify.”

Bahar Gökten is a versatile dance artist with over 25 years of global activity in Hip Hop culture and the performing arts. Her style is defined by a cross-genre flow and the playfulness of the moment, while her approach is deeply rooted in social responsibility and care. Whether as a dancer, choreographer, organizer, curator, educator, or mentor, the exploration of experimental concepts, the empowerment of communities, and intergenerational exchange are essential to her process-oriented philosophy. Bahar is a scholarship holder of Sprungbrett<>Tanzrecherche NRW and Beat Riders New York. Her choreographies and interdisciplinary dance formats have been presented at Ballett am Rhein, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, MAKK, Schauspiel Köln, and Staatstheater Stuttgart. She has been an artist in residence at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Stadt:Kollektiv | D’haus, and Cité internationale des Arts Paris, as well as a Factory Artist at tanzhaus nrw with her collective nutrospektif. Bahar’s most recent works were performed at Schauspiel Köln and the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim.

Artistic Concept: Yasmine Calasse
Choreography, Performance: Yasmine Calasse, Bahar Gökten
Music: Fernando Damon