Aura's Dance

2024 | video

In a cinematic interpretation of the same-titled performance, AURA’S DANCE explores identity, societal constraints, and notions of femininity. The video piece divides the dancer’s journey into three chapters – Conform, Resist, Reveal – questioning how a dancer – female, male or non-binary – might express themselves if freed from normative gender structures.  

Soraya Schulthess’s performance oscillates between moments of vulnerability and strength, examining how cultural norms influence personal and collective identity. The paradox of the dancer’s own movements being both feminine and rooted in womanhood, yet also potentially confining and affected, embody the tension between authenticity and societal expectations.

"How would I look and dance if I hadn't felt the need to conform? How would I move if this binary structure of masculine and feminine, of strong and soft, of empowered and disempowered didn’t exist?"

Camera: Leon Frind
Colour: Anna Hitova
Voice: Soraya Schulthess
Sound: Leonhard van Voorst
Choreography: Annick Schadeck & Soraya Schulthess
Dancers: Leroy Mokgatle, Lia Kemendi, Mari Kawanashi, Soraya Schulthess, Shannon Maynor, Vivian Khoonavard
Costumes: Kaviar Gauche