MIKE

Dana Michel

German premiere

Premiere: May 19, 2023 at Kunstenfestivaldesarts



Performative reflections on the theme of work are at the center of Dana Michel's "MIKE". How can we learn to trust each other in this society? In a space wide open to interpretation, we become witnesses to these reflections.

Dana Michel begins her performance with a meditation on the working environment, transforming everyday actions into choreographic experiments. She is in a space where various objects are scattered around, moving these objects from one place to another, playing with them. But all her actions are interrupted and seem to lose their flow, as if her body is trapped in routine repetitions. The Canadian artist from Ottawa prefers absurdity to provocation and humor to profundity in order to dismantle normative behavior patterns. She takes a lot of time to do this. Michel creates possibilities for diverse ways of being and living and puts neoliberalist and efficiency-oriented thinking and acting up for debate. For Michel, the creation of "MIKE" is an engaged attempt to give weight to the idea that "without trust in myself and in others, it is impossible to live a safe life in public that reflects one's inner life."

Dana Michel's work interacts with a broad spectrum of improvisation, sculpture, hip-hop, comedy, film, dub, as well as social critique, resulting in a centrifugation of experience. Prior to graduating with a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University, she was active as a marketing executive, competitive runner, and football player. In 2014, she was awarded the newly created ImPulsTanz Prize in recognition of outstanding artistic achievement and was recognized in the New York Times as Outstanding Choreographer of the Year. At the 2017 Venice Biennale, Michel received the Silver Lion for Innovation in Dance. In 2018, she was the first dance artist-in-residence at the Centre national des Arts in Ottawa, Canada.



Artistic Team

Created and performed by Dana Michel

Viva Delorme, Ellen Furey, Peter James, Heidi Louis, Tracy Maurice, Roscoe Michel, Karlyn Percil, Yoan Sorin - Artistic Activators*.

Romain Guillet - scenographic advice, technical direction

David Drury - Sound consulting

Viva Delorme, Dana Michel - Production

Anna Skonecka, Koen Vanhove - Distribution