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Voetvolk/Lisbeth Gruwez: The Sea Within. 19.08.2018, Tanz im August, HAU 2, Berlin.

Suddenly somebody reads out the words „redefining femininity“ from the programme notes and I’m not sure anymore what to think – do I have to be the ‚feminist killjoy‘ here? What I am seeing is choreographed by Lisbeth Gruwez, who I remember had this image of a strong and provocative performer? What I am seeing is beautiful in a way, ten women on stage, soft colors, highly skilled performers, those slowly moving waves on stage could be really intense, falling and catching each other, erupting even at some point… but I get lost on the way, missing an expression of the dancers‘ individuality and missing a shift in perspective after drawing our eye into the middle of the scene once too often. Too bad it was a very small aesthetic aspect of the piece we had to unpack first afterwards, questioning a performance which wants to redefine femininity and that needs to put the ten female dancers into small underwear, which from there completely defines the onlooker’s gaze: What do you want me to