Work Body – Schwindelfrei Festival

Work Body
Michael Turinsky (Vienna)

About the Piece
Work Bodyis inspired by the poem “Le ceneri di Gramsci” (Gramsci’s Ashes), which Pier Pasolini dedicated to Antonio Gramsci, the co-founder of the Italian Communist Party, who was also physically disabled. Turinsky draws on Pasolini’s sensual and intellectual homage to the Marxist thinker to find, in*Work Body*, aresponse to the general shift to the right in working-class circles, which is permeated by fantasies of masculinity. 

Gramsci always emphasized the “authentic core,” the “buon senso,” in the proletarian experience. What of the longing dormant within it—to live autonomously and associate with one’s peers? What of the erotic—but also narcissistic—undertones of comradeship and brotherhood? And how does communist desire relate to sexual desire? 

By building, singing, speaking, and dancing—transcending the capitalist division of labor—Turinsky subverts not only the separation between mental and manual labor but also the boundaries between choreographic intervention, concert, and political agitation. *Work Body*creates a space for resonances between the “disabled” and “working” bodies. In doing so, Turinsky brings the physicalities pushed to the margins of representation into the center of our attention. 

About the Artist:
Michael Turinsky is a Vienna-based artist and theorist with a physical disability who works at the intersection of contemporary dance and performance, disability, and political and aesthetic theory. 

After earning a degree in philosophy from the University of Vienna, Michael began immersing himself in the world of inclusive dance in 2006. Later, he questioned the concept of inclusion and coined his own term, “Crip Choreography,” to describe his unique artistic practice, which engages with the specific, resistant materiality of the body in processes of subversion, de-organization, and re-organization of dominant forms and qualities of movement.  

His solo work*Precarious Moves*was awarded the prestigious Nestroy Prize for Best Off-Production in 2021. In 2023, he was honored as an “Outstanding Artist” by the Austrian Ministry of Culture. 

Cast & Credits:
Michael Turinsky / Concept, Choreography, Text, Performance  
Tian Rotteveel / Music, Lyrics, Performance  
Jenny Schleif / Set Design, Costumes  
Max Rux / Lighting Design  
Chris Standfest / Dramaturgical Consultation  
Liv Schellander / Artistic Collaboration  
Anna Gräsel / Production Manager  
 
A co-production by Michael Turinsky – Association for Philosophical Practice, Tanzquartier Wien, and Theater RAMPE Stuttgart. 
 
With support from the City of Vienna’s Department of Culture and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service, and Sports.