Fia/Sophia Neises , Klingende Körper (Resonant Bodies)

The workshop will take place online via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Further information about registration will be available shortly.

Fia/Sophia Neises co-leads the Laboratory for Creative Audio Description at tanzhaus nrw and invites you to an online workshop exploring how bodies can become instruments and storytellers. Starting from the question of how dance can be experienced by blind and visually impaired audiences beyond conventional audio description, we will investigate possibilities for aesthetic accessibility through sound, movement and bodily presence.

Participants are invited to have sounding garments and small instruments ready that can be attached to the body. Through a series of short improvisations, we will learn, experiment and research together how the sound of the body can create a compelling and self-directed experience, with and without words.

The workshop is conceived as a shared space for research and exploration. It is also an opportunity to be creative, discover your own taste and style, and develop new perspectives on dance and perception.

Fia/Sophia Neises (she/they) is a White, queer, blind dancer and choreographer based in Berlin. Since 2018, she has been creating spaces in which blind and visually impaired audiences and artists are not merely accommodated but celebrated. A key part of her activist practice is empowering her community to shape and express their own style and artistic taste through dance.

The workshop runs from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (including breaks).

Image description:

A vibrant collage in warm shades of orange and purple. Dancing bodies and sound come together. Orange feet bounce with energy: a hairy leg in an elegant sandal, a heel tapping to a beat. A person in a long-sleeved mesh shirt using crutches clicks their fingers, while another with long red nails slaps the knee of their hairy leg. Small bells zoom through the collage like comets, while a whistle hanging from a red ribbon sends out lines of sound. A megaphone releases rippling vibrations. A winding line of sound emerges from a mouth, then dances about before curling into a musical note. Another rhythm emerges from the tapping of a white cane. Nearby, hands glide along a smooth line of sound. A string with a bell is threaded through the belt loops of a pair of trousers. A wheelchair user, rendered in dark orange and with tightly curled purple hair, raises their hand to meet the floating hand of another person in a celebratory high-five. 

Image description: Drawing, graphic, drawing; Credits: Lenja Busch.