Including a hypnotic electronic soundtrack by Lorenzo Senni, “HIGHER xtn.” considers the power of dance by focusing on the nightclub as a site of community building and radical self-expression. The dance oiece is conceptualized and choreographed by multidisciplinary artist Michele Rizzo. Drawing on theorist Julia Kristeva’s writings on the form and its ability to accelerate the process of transhumanization, the performance examines the cathartic and transformative power of technoid music cultures, whose repetitive rhythms can temporarily detach the dancers from their sense of self by inducing a state of trance. It’s here in this very symbol of ever-changing utility and function—of the postal bank, come temporary gallery, come transient club—that “E-scape” creates an autonomous space within a space; of transgression and transcendence, movement and contortion in time.

HIGHER xtn.
Concept and choreography: Michele Rizzo
Original soundtrack: Lorenzo Senni
Dancers: Michele Rizzo, Max Göran, Juan Pablo Cámara, Antonia Steffens, Reza Mirabi.
Production: DANSCO
With thanks to: Stedelijk Museum/SNDO / ICK / Mondriaan Fonds / Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds