Drawing from the work of theorists Julia Kristeva, Boris Groys, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Italian choreographer Michelle Rizzo considers how dance can facilitate states of flow, totality, and transcendence, and acknowledges the connection between dance and para-religious practices.

The artist is particularly interested in the cathartic and transformative power of techno music, whose repetitive rhythms can temporarily blur the perceived boundaries of the body.

‘HIGHER xtn.’ (2018) is also attentive to the important role that nightclubs play as gathering spaces for marginalized groups, and to how clubs foster public intimacy while providing individuals with an environment in which to explore their identities. 

In this performance, dancers negotiate the boundaries between the self and the collective. As the repetition of the choreography reconfigures the group into a single body, Lorenzo Senni’s hypnotic electronic soundtrack intensifies in tandem with the performers’ movements. 

Duration: 30 min.