ABOUT THE RESIDENCY
The two figures inhabit an ever-shifting territory where a relentless negotiation takes place over the boundaries between subject and object, self and other, local and foreign, recognisable and alien.
In this work we interrogate the trap of identification in contemporary society. We address the rigid frames of heteronormativity and binary thinking, the performances of masculinity and the fragility of whiteness that so often erupts in xenophobia and dominance. By embodying both conflict and complicity, we question how identity is constructed and enforced, and how these performance structures take over and distance one from its intrinsic identity. We search for figures who embody both the erasure of subjecthood and a radical step beyond the system.
CREATIVE TEAM
Oleg Stepanov—Writer, Director, Choreographer, Cinematographer, Set Design, Dancer
Dario Minoia—Writer, Actor, Choreographer, Set Design, Dancer
Gerard Bell—Actor
Dally Decker—Music
Valentina Kryshova—Color Grading
Briana Marela—Music
Tara Moskalets—Sound Engineer
Ekaterina Shushakova—Actress
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Oleg Stepanov is a versatile artist, excelling as a dancer, choreographer, film and music maker. Born in the Urals, Russia, since 2013 Stepanov has resided in Sweden, Germany and now Switzerland. He danced at Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Gothenburg Dance Company, Theater Basel and Provincial Dances Theatre. He collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Dimitris Papaioannou, Saburo Teshigawara, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Constanza Macras, Fabrice Mazliah and others. Stepanov was a choreographic assistant to Russian critically acclaimed choreographer Tatiana Baganova in the production of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, as well as in the piece Sepia commissioned by the American Dance Festival.
Stepanov was proclaimed by the German Tanz portal as Dancer of the Year in 2022 for his role in Richard Siegal’s and Anish Kapoor’s Ectopia. Stepanov’s work in film also involved choreographing for Tom Tykwer’s film The Light. Stepanov’s short film A moth on a bomb won a prize at New York Tri-State International Short Film Festival. His short dance video, “Moverevermore,” received the Jury Choice Award at the EnRoute Dance Film Festival (USA). Stepanov is currently collaborating as a choreographer with film director Alla Kovgan on their next full-length dance film Purple river.
Dario Minoia is a dancer, actor and choreographer born in Puglia, Italy. Minoia received his modern and contemporary dance education at Codarts University of Arts in Rotterdam, graduating in 2015. He joined Scapino Ballet Rotterdam where he had the chance to work with choreographers like Marcos Morau, Felix Landerer, Itamar Serussi Sahar and others. He choreographed two works: Reminder to self and Don’t be a sweet potato, honey as part of the Made in Rotterdam program produced by Scapino Ballet. In 2020, Minoia joined Skånes Dansteater in Malmö, Sweden, where he has collaborated with makers such as Jo Strømgren, Anouk van Dijk, Tero Saarinen, Heidi Vierthaler and others. Minoia has led various workshops including “Dance for Children and Youth,” “Dance for Parkinson’s” and “SWOP Dance Club.” In 2023, he relocated to Switzerland and joined Ballet Basel where he collaborated with Bobbi Jene Smith, Saburo Teshigawara, La Rebot, Erna Ómarsdóttir und Halla Ólafsdóttir. Minoia is an associate choreographer in the film Purple river directed by Alla Kovgan and choreographed by Oleg Stepanov.