Gaia Pellegrini

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.