Open Out Festival and Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum are delighted to invite you to Dasha Che and Marina Shamova’s lecture that will serve as an introduction to the two-day workshop, 'Non-binary Body'.

Dasha Che and Marina Shamova, two gender-queer dance educators and performance artists, are coming to Tromsø this September to talk about the practice of queer and feminist resistance as experienced directly by them in present-day St. Petersburg. They will also try to help us get in touch with our gender identity and who we are at the core, through our body, during a two-day workshop.

For 'Non-binary Body: Reclaiming the Space/Conversation', they will be exploring the topic of queer representation, gender identity and everyday life as a queer/non-binary person in a state-controlled, oppressive and heteronormative environment of contemporary Russia, and how they try to resist it through their art practice.

More about the artists:
Dasha Che is a queer transnational performance artist. They are a graduate of Flying Actor Studio and the University of California, Berkeley. Dasha uses art to engage audiences into meaningful and challenging conversations on gender, race, privileges, access, nationality, and ability. As a dance artivist and organizer, they are committed to creating accessible art spaces that uplift and empower those who have been previously silenced. Dasha has been facilitating movement practice and creating art spaces for different communities across the USA, El Salvador, Finland, Ukraine, Bielorussia, and Russia. They are the founder of 'Telaboratoria', a dance and theater improvisation program based in St. Petersburg that aims at healing and empowering the LGBTQ youth.

Marina Shamova is a performer, dancer, and researcher. Marina holds degrees from Institute of Design, Applied Art and Humanitarian Education, St. Petersburg, Vaganova Ballet Academy and School of Engaged Art 'Chto Delat', St. Petersburg. They are a tutor of movement practice for children with special needs at the Jewish Community Centre YESOD, St. Petersburg. Marina has organized and hosted a number workshops, such as 'Performative Actions In Spaces Which We Share With Others' and 'Queer Hip-Hop', as well as created numerous dance research performances, among which are 'Collective Body of Interhearing', 'Transition', 'Co-production of Space'. They are also a lyric writer and a performer of the musical co-op TechnoPoetry / ТехноПоэзия.