The first institutional solo exhibition by the collective (LA)HORDE will feature a selection of video installations that stem from their choreographic practice rooted in ritual, classical dance, subcultures, and the everyday. During the opening, the exhibition will be activated by one of the collective’s most influential performances, To Da Bone, utilizing the ground floor of the Julia Stoschek Foundation Berlin as both a stage and exhibition space.
(LA)HORDE have made a name for themselves by expanding the boundaries of classical dance. Their approach focuses on understanding how bodies are represented in public space, social networks, and on the stage which they consider to be a political place of intersecting choreographic languages. To describe their practice, they coined the term “post-internet dance,” a genre influenced by the digital circulation of a wide range of styles and rhythms. Through dance, or more generally through the body in motion, (LA)HORDE examine individual and communal gestures of transgression and resistance by performing protest, inserting themselves into festival crowds, and inviting nonprofessionals to take center stage.
(LA)HORDE’s practice encourages viewers to consider how, over the last fifteen years, our movements and behaviors have drastically shifted due to the ubiquity of phones, surveillance cameras, and social media. We have adapted to performing for the camera in both private and public spaces, whether we give consent or not. At the same time, the possibility of challenging what performance and dance can do through the widespread access of recording technology and mass distribution circuits has created new modes of expression and identification, defined by communal codes that in some cases lead to political dissent – the recent videos from Iran of women and girls dancing in the streets in defiance of the regime are just one example.
(LA)HORDE seek to unearth the power which resides in our bodies, creating experiences that resonate with us on deeply emotional and psychological levels.
Curator: Lisa Long / Assistant Curator: Line Ajan
