20 Jahre Radialsystem: UNEXPECTED LESSON 4 – Decolonizing the Body in Dance

Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson

20 Jahre Radialsystem: UNEXPECTED LESSON 4 – Decolonizing the Body in Dance 1 – Visual mit den Teilnehmenden vor bunten Hintergrund

As part of the “UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound” series at Radialsystem, Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson portray the body as a living archive in workshops and lecture performances, in which history, knowledge, and environment meet. In “Decolonizing the Body in Dance”, which we are presenting as part of “20 Jahre Radialsystem”, movement becomes a practice of reconnection, and an act of resistance and resilience.

What do we mean, when we speak of bodies? Contemporary artistic approaches are questioning the apparently “neutral” bodies in western dance traditions, uncovering the historical and cultural views that have shaped this idea. In indigenous and non-western systems of knowledge, the body is often not a malleable object, but a carrier of memory, relationship, and meaning. The practices of Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson unlock different perspectives: in the lecture performance “The Cosmic Body”, Ramesh sees the body as part of cosmic orders; in “Amazonia 2040”, Hincapié Charry understands it as eco-feminist territory, in which (de-)colonial and ecological questions are inscribed; in the performance “On Unarriving”, Whitson approaches dark matter and dark energy as sacred and cosmic technology.

The series ‘UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound’ is supported by the LOTTO Foundation Berlin. In cooperation with the Betty Center for Movement Research in Dance Studies at LMU Munich. An event as part of the TALKING OBJECTS LAB.

Media partners Radialsystem: taz. die tageszeitung, tip Berlin, The Berliner, Radio 3.

11 September 2026

1.00–3.00 pm“Cuerpos de Tierra – Earth Bodies”Workshop with Martha Hincapié Charryin German and English

3.30–5.30 pm“The Cosmic Body”Workshop with Dr Rajyashree Rameshin German and English

 

12 September 2026

2 pm – 9 pmLA PALABRE Space – Tea, Reading & Resting Room with the dance project Coole Kinder

4 pm – 6 pm“Amazonia 2040”Lecture-performance by Martha Hincapié Charry

“The Cosmic Body”Lecture-performance by Dr Rajyashree Ramesh

6.30 – 7.15 pm“On Unarriving”Performance by Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson

Next date:

• Date Friday, 11/September/2026 13:00 ( 1 more date )
• Venue Radialsystem V
• Address Holzmarktstraße 33, 10243 Berlin-Friedrichshain