Tiran Willemse (ZA, 1987)
Residency period: January-March 2024
At La Becque, Tiran Willemse developed a new dance research project based on the “Trompoppies”, uniformed drum majorettes, and the melodramatic gestures of white female starlets and gestures associated with black male rap stars. By experimenting with various dance forms and styles and drawing on their experiences as a black dancer practicing classical ballet, modern dance, and certain South African dances in Europe, this work attempted to understand how these forms fit into a politics of representation of marginalized bodies, and how they bear witness to the ongoing violence against these same bodies in institutions and public spaces. This work also enabled Willemse to reflect on notions of invisibility and inaudibility, based on a body of research drawn from black and postcolonial studies.
Born in 1987, Tiran Willemse is a South African dancer, choreographer, and researcher based in both Zurich and Berlin. With particular emphasis on notions of space, imagination, movement, and sound, their performance practice focuses on modes of constructing and questioning gender and identity. In their work, Willemse explores the physical and emotional depth of the body to create somatic and psychological experiences beyond the human condition.
Tiran Willemse, La Becque, photo Matthieu Croizier