Mono Welk
Nachmittag eines Fauns

In ’Nachmittag eines Fauns’, Mono will deal with pleasure and eroticism in the area of tension between dance and activism. He will look critically at the more than 100 years old piece ‘L’apres midi d’un faune’ by Vaslav Nijinsky from a queer perspective and re-stage the piece with the following questions in mind: When is the presentation of of pleasure and eroticism a provocative and hyped sensation? When does an authentic element become an emancipatory practice? How can the normative matric at places of high culture be hacked through pleasure and queerness?

In addition to analyzing the work, Mono would like to get a more accurate picture of the person Vaslav Nijinsky and understand what norms prevailed in the performing arts at the time. Vaslav Nijinsky was a bisexual person who later became ill with schizophrenia and who repeatedly broke taboos through his artistic work. Furthermore, the analysis of "L'apres midi d'un faune" will connect with theories/practices of post-modern and contemporary artists, theorists, and activists who are intensely concerned with body politics, structures of oppression, and strategies against a white, cis-hetero, ableist, and classist norm in cultural practice. Literature used as a research base: "Diaries" Vaslav Nijinsky, "Testo Junkie" by Paul B. Preciado, and "Pleasure Activism" by Adrienne Maree Brown.

ONLINE SCREENING Les Expériences de Nymphx et Faunx - Jan. 31, 2023, 8 p.m. via Zoom.

To close the residency, Mono collaborated with artists Jul Zureck and Noah Jacobi to resemble the work of Nijinsky as a 20-minute experimental film. This film will be shown as an online screening at the conclusion of the residency on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at 8pm. Language of the film is German spoken language, there is no translation in DGS or audio description. The sound design is by Art3m1s.

After the online screening there will be the possibility to share impressions and thoughts and to ask questions to the team. The talk will be moderated by Noah Jacobi. The conversation will take place in German or English spoken language. There will be no translation into DGS or audio description.

WORKSHOP My desire - your desire? - 03.01.2023

In the course of the residency, a workshop will take place that deals with the topics of lust/eroticism in art and activism and invites interested people to explore this field together. In three hours, Mono Welk wants to use methods from body-mind centering, creative writing and dance improvisation and open a creative and non-judgmental research space. In exercises (physical and mental) it may be explored alone and together, which movements, touches and thoughts give pleasure and enjoyment - and why? And what should be revealed and what not? The workshop is primarily aimed at artists and activists with experiences of marginalization.

Important: The workshop will take place in a wheelchair accessible room in East Leipzig - participants will receive the address with the registration confirmation. The workshop will be held in German or English. Participants should bring comfortable clothing and feel-good/enjoyable items.

Mono Welk works as choreographer, performer and curator. He focuses on art that questions bodily norms at the interface to activism and is therefore located within the queer practice. He wants to break entrenched aesthetics and power structure - as solo artist or with the inter-sectional performance collective POLYMORA Inc. In 2018, together with Steph Krah, Mono founded the festival FAMILIA*FUTURA which is about family diversity and care utopias.

4fürTanz is a platform for contemporary dance and follows the vision of a vibrant, diverse and internationally connected dance scene in Leipzig. Training for professionals, workshops, residencies, showings and TanzDIALOGE are established formats of the association. The daily training for professionals enables dance professionals on high levels to practice and the workshops give dance professionals and non-professionals the opportunity to educate themselves further and connect with each other and international artists.

Artists show their progress during the monthly OPEN STAGE and the residency showings to sensitise the audience in Leipzig for artistic processes. The dialogues connect experts from different fields and removes barriers for an audience that is otherwise not interested in dance. Fixed cooperation partners of 4fürTanz are euro-scene, LOFFT, Schaubühne Lindenfels and the platform for reflection and feedback „you are warmly invited”.