22 May: Valentine Tanz
TIME: 22 May 10.00-22.00h
START: Hillerødgade, Copenhagen N
CATEGORY: Dancer
Live-stream each hour on the hour on www.facebook.com/walkingcopenhagen
THE WITCHING
The figure of the witch is a key element in my performance practice. The witch is a non-human being with supernatural powers, someone that has the power to transform and whose identity never ceases to be fluid. The witch has always questioned the reality of patriarchy.
In this performance practice I will walk through the city of Copenhagen and choreograph rituals and spaces for poetic reflection. 22 May is a day of Saint Rita, who is the patron of the impossible celebrated in the catholic church with roses and prayers.
Queering the space of spirituality as well as the public space will unveil the unspoken poetics and call for radical care. I will be mapping the tensions of public and private, calling for collective mourning and connecting realms of magic and politics.
DOCUMENTATION MAY 22
POST-THOUGHTS FROM THE ARTIST
coming home was comforting. sore legs. bone tired. breathless. doubts and questions as i walked back home. hunger. anxiety. i entered my flat and realised i still have one more video to do. i wasn’t feeling it. the only thing i wanted was to eat and drink some whiskey and fall asleep.
i woke up the next day and was not feeling well. i was drained and sore. i started questioning my practice and things i ve done.
22nd of may is a special day to me. not only because it is a saint rita’s day – my favorite saint of the impossible but also it was a second anniversary of my friends death. i woke up the next day and realised how much i missed her. i was thinking about the idea of performing my experience. talking about what i went through. as always my art overcrosses life. there is no way back. nevertheless i was thinking about the publicity of the series of works i just showed. does it still make sense? does the personal really become public? how do i tell the story? how do i choreograph my feelings and traumas? who is there on the other side of the screen? does it make sense for those who are scrolling their walls on fb or ig?
on sunday 24th of may. i woke up with joy and satisfaction. my mood was swinging as usual. my depression and posttraumatic stress disorder is part of my everyday life. i am learning how to accommodate that state of my mind and body. i wanna tell the story that is meaningful and brings another perspective. a queer trans perspective which is so much missing in the art world.
i invited myself to CC. a big step. a big choice. i thought about it many times. i selected this space with a very specific agenda. bringing the trans witch into an institution. by my own invitation i inhabited the space of the museum. a space that was guestless. an empty museum. a historical point. pandemic times create another condition for artists to work. i took the advantage of the covid times. i finally danced. i felt my veins pumping with blood, memories and traumas. i felt my friend’s presence. i finally was in the space that is supportive to my art process. finally this wasn’t a run-down gallery in the suburbs, a temporary underground space, a queer project or a rented hourly studio. i literally brought my memories to the space of CC. i was happy to work on the materials i collected over past couple of years. the gentrification process, eviction, loss of the house and community and the most painful – the loss of the dear friend. i finally was able to develop this into a choreographic practice.
yes, witch – i thought to myself.
yes, witch – thanked myself.
yes, anette – i danced in your dress. first time since you are gone from this world. i danced in your dress and felt your spirit dancing through my body. i feel my grief and anger turn from rage to joy. i feel my mourning becomes dancing again.
and yes, finally yes! the art world. how little you need to offer to make one happy.
open your eyes. hear the calls from the margins. be responsible, receptive and sincere.
i walked, i danced, i cried and chanted.
i am tired, happy and sad at the same time.
i wouldn’t do it again.
once is enough.
saint rita, anette, wind and the sea.
thank you for being with me.
and thank you all of you for witnessing, feeling and supporting.
FILM
10.00 h
11.00 h
12.00 h
13.00 h
14.00 h
15.00 h
16.00 h
17.00 h
18.00 h
19.00 h
20.00 h
21.00 h
22.00 h
23.00 h
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Valentine Tanz / Vala T. Foltyn is a poetic choreographer, post_trans_witch, performance artist. She is the founder and curator of Lamella – the House of Queer Arts and Krakow Art House. She graduated from Shahar Dor’s Artness – Home and School for Movement (Israel) and Performers House (Denmark). She studied anatomy and philosophy of dance under Anna Halprin in California. She also graduated in cultural anthropology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Based in Copenhagen since 2019.
In the coming year, she will carry a research on archives queering and witchcraft at Malmo Art Academy as part of the Fine Arts programme in Artistic Research. In 2018, she was running a political campaign to become the mayor of the city of Kraków as gender non-binary person. In 2019 she fled to Copenhagen due to violence against LGTBQ people in Poland.
Recent works have been shown in numerous international contexts, including Bergen Assembly, Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Shelter Festival in Helsinki, XXI Festiwal Sztuki Interakcje Poland, Salzburg and Stuttgart Strike Gently Away, Arsenał Gallery in Poznań, Body Landscapes Performance Art Festival in Copenhagen, Queer Bcademy at Kampnagel in Hamburg.
Photo: Florian Model / Dara Bram / Stan Barański