Workshop: Political Bodies in the Lab

- Body, resistance and resilience

With Ming Poon

How do political developments affect our bodies? What traces do social conflicts, collective fears and historical experiences leave behind in our thoughts, feelings and actions? And how can we stay connected despite increasing polarization?

The six-hour workshop "Political Bodies in the Lab - Bodies, Resistance and Resilience" invites you to explore these questions in an open, body-based research space. The starting point is the current research project S.H.A.D.O.W., which for the first time explicitly addresses the effects of right-wing and far-right developments on the body and society.

Together, we are exploring how political and social processes are inscribed in bodies, how historical tensions and collective fears can be perceived and what forms of resistance, solidarity and resilience arise from this. The focus is on movement, perception and joint experimentation.

The workshop sees itself as a collaborative learning and research process. For the workshop leaders, too, dealing with right-wing populism and the shift to the right in society is a new field of research. Together with the participants, a space of questioning, exploration and discovery is created.

Key questions include:

• How can we stay connected despite political conflicts?
• How can power structures be experienced in the body?
• How can vulnerability become the basis for resistance and solidarity?

The workshop is aimed at all interested parties, especially artists, dance and performance enthusiasts, activistsand people who want to engage with social issues. No previous knowledge of dance, movement or performance is required.

With: Ming Poon

Part of the Reframing Dance program. Supported by the Mittelzentrum Tanz & Performance Köln with funds from the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Date: Sunday, June 21, 2026, 12:00-18:00
Location: Rehearsal stage PB2, Freies Werkstatt Theater (FWT), Zugweg 10, Cologne
Number of participants: max. 15 people
Participation fee: 15 € (payment on site or via PayPal)

Registration until June 19, 2026 by e-mail to: Marje.Hirvonen@orangerie-theater.de