Gaia Pellegrini

Studio 6

Dates

The floor is blue with darker lines painted on there. Two people are laying on the floor, one person has their knees up and their right hand on the hip of the other person. The second person is hugging the other one and has their head layed on their stomach. They are both wearing heels and gold costumes.
Auf einer schwach beleuchteten Bühne befinden sich zwei weiblich gelesene Personen. Beide tragen goldene, kurze Kleider und silberner Stiefel mit Absatz, die bis zu den Knien gehen. Eine der Personen steht, ihr Oberkörper ist nicht zu sehen. Die zweite Person hat lange, dunkelbraune Haare. Sie kniet zwischen den Beinen der stehenden Person, ihr Kopf befindet sich an den Hinterbeinen. Sie schaut leicht nach oben.
Two people are laying back to back on the floor with one knee each up. They are looking into the direction of the camera but not directly. In the back there is a mirrror and a blue curtain.

veline repertoire is a choreographic study about Italian TV showgirls fantasised as a lesbian romance. Veline are showgirl duos that perform in so-called stacchetti, 30-second dance intermissions – energetically joyous with a perpetual grin. Gaia Pellegrini conducted research on stacchetti repertoire ranging from the 1990s until today.

Stacchetto after stacchetto, we dive into the show dance to reclaim its sensuality, to wrest it from the male gaze and to remould it into a queer narrative. Is it possible to reject sexualisation while sensuality is being performed? And can sexuality exist beyond its dehumanisation? Along an arch reaching from 1990’s TV repertoire until the present, the performers relinquish their spectacular roles aimed at the cameras and begin to enjoy each other as lovers, and fully devoid of spectacle. What began as an imitation morphs into seduction wherein frivolous gestures become erotic tension, smiles turning into campily exaggerated spells, until the choreography joins them in romance.

veline repertoire deconstructs the shimmering surface of a constructed “femininity” that is especially marked by the times of media mogul and former president Berlusconi, and it unveils its underlying yearning – and defiance.

Cologne-based choreographer and performer Gaia Pellegrini graduated in Physical Theatre Studies at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen before specialising in choreography at the Conservatorio Superior de Danza in Barcelona. Her work is steeped in a quasi-documentary interest in archives and popular culture and deals with the examination of Italian TV and queer-feminist perspective. veline repertoire was developed as a work-in-progress in collaboration with dancers Rebecca de Toro, Shauna Fischer and show dance teacher Ley Akpinar during the summer residence at tanzhaus nrw, and an early version was also subsequently presented at Now & Next.

Duration: 50 mins.
Note: Use of strobe lighting + smoke

Read more about the piece in this interview with Gaia Pellegrini!

Accompanying programme
Datum Rahmenprogramm
Sat 07.06. 12:30 – 15:00

Veline-Repertoire- Heels and Theatre Workshop with Gaia Pellegrini & Aleyna Lara-Nur Akpinar
Sat 13.06. 19:00

Physical Introduction with Ada Sternberg
Sat 13.06. subsequently Talk: Together with the others

 

Artistic direction, performance, choreography: Gaia Pellegrini; in collaboration with the dancers: Shauna Fischer, Rebecca de Toro; music: Tim Pauli, GFOTY, Gaia Pellegrini, KatKit; set and light: Miranda Simón Abelló; direction assistant: Luca Frati; light programmer: Luki Becker; styling: Giulia Parenti; curation and text: Alice Minervini; showdance coach: Ley Akpinar; drag coach: Saskia Rudat, Fine Kroke; photos: Kristina Wulf, Alessia Bombaci; trailer: Luca Butturini.

Coproduced by tanzhaus nrw and ehrenfeldstudios. Funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia. With support of Antic Teatre, Dansa Metropolitana 2026 and Tanzresidenz Quartier am Hafen. The development of veline repertoire was supported by Marina Abramovic Institut, Antic Teatre and tanzhaus nrw.