A one-day workshop/conference
Concept & curation: Nora Amin
19.07.2025 | 14:00 – 19:00
Studio 11, Uferstudios
In collaboration with HZT
The one-day workshop/conference re-explores the dimensions of somatic practices within Afro-dance and dance in general. It navigates through the notions of dance, what makes it somatic or not, and why. Among the topics will be the connections between dance and healing, empowerment, resistance, and dance as a practice of solidarity/community. The format this year is practice-based, in addition to introductions by the artists and group sharing at the end of each session/workshop. With this event, we wish to examine the intersections between body as a site of personal/collective memory, as a live archive of ancestral knowledge, and as a transformative entity towards wholeness and empowerment. We seek as well to employ practical experience and experiential knowledge in order to bring to light the entanglements between movement, ritualistic practices, healing and knowledge re-construction in dance.
The workshop/conference offers three sessions, each lasting for 90 minutes, and with 15 minutes breaks in between.
Workshop 1 | 14:00-15:30
with Raphael Moussa Hillebrand
Raphael Moussa Hillebrand invites you to a dynamic and inclusive workshop where you’ll explore both dance technique and the many ways we can connect through movement – through cyphers, soul trains and call and response. At the heart of it all are community, creativity and improvisation. The circle, the primal form of dance, is more than a space for movement. It holds power, history and a sense of collective presence. Together, we’ll dive into its deep roots and explore how dance can create connection – with one another and with something greater than ourselves. This workshop is open to everyone, regardless of background or experience. You don’t need to be a professional – just curious to express yourself through movement and meet others in a vibrant, creative space.
Raphael Moussa Hillebrand is a choreographer, dancer, curator, speaker and activist. Born in 1982 in Hong Kong, he is rooted in both Germany and West Africa, grew up in Berlin and was shaped by hip-hop culture. In June 2014, he completed his Master’s degree in Choreography at the Inter-University Centre for Dance (HZT) at the Berlin University of the Arts. As a founding member and key voice of the world’s first hip-hop political party, Die Urbane. Eine Hip-Hop Partei, he advocates for decolonisation, empowerment and cultural diversity. With both charm and a striking openness, Hillebrand is first and foremost an artist – one who sees the body as a powerful engine capable of challenging social imbalance through courage and movement. In 2020, he was honoured with the German Dance Award for his outstanding artistic development in the field of dance.
Workshop 2
15:45-17:15 with Lua Elmila
Lua Elmila invites you to share a space in which we can dive into the political realm and explore possibilities to move in, with or away from it. Raising awareness for our resources and strengthening the empowerment and resistance.
Lua Elmila is an interdisciplinary artist with a focus on movement and performance. They currently live in Berlin deepening their dance practice and studying fine arts at KHK Kassel. Their works are moving in relationship to their environment, often putting focuses on political issues. They are also teaching workshops and are taking action with dance as a political practice. Their movements are inspired by hip hop, contemporary, butoh and baladi dance cultures such as theatre.
Workshop 3
17:30-19:00 with Nora Amin
Nora Amin invites you to an intensive workshop based on her choreographic signature where she fuses her feminist approach to Baladi dance (named Belly Dance by the West) with her healing vocabulary. The workshop paves the way towards experiencing dance as a somatic practise of pleasure, worth and reclaiming the dignity of the body in a holistic sense. The workshop culminates with a cross continental ritual of solidarity where emotions can dance beyond the borders of the body.
Nora Amin is a performer (dancer/actress/vocalist), choreographer, author, theatre director, curator and scholar/researcher/lecturer. Fellow of the centre for Theatre of the Oppressed (Brazil, 2003), founder of Lamusica Independent Theatre group (Egypt, 2000) where she choreographed, directed & produced 50 performances of dance, theatre & music. Founder of The Nation-wide Egyptian Project for Theatre of the Oppressed and its Arab network (Lebanon, Sudan & Morocco), fellow of the Academy of the Arts of the World (Cologne, 2015), fellow of the International Research Centre for Interweaving Performance Cultures (FU, 2015-2016), Valeska-Gert guest professor for dance sciences (FU, 2018), visiting lecturer at the centre for contemporary dance (Köln, 2020/2023/2024), workshop instructor at Tanzfabrik (2019-2024), at Berlin Mondiale (2020-2024) and Mentor/Expert at PAP (Performing Arts Program/LAFT Berlin) and Flausen+bundesnetzwerk program (2018-2024). She has been working intensively with the topic of decolonising dance practice, theoretically as an author, and practically as a choreographer. Her latest publication is “Dance of the Persecuted”, published by Matthes & Seitz MSB, where she traces the history of the Egyptian Baladi dance from a feminist perspective, connecting the elements of racism, coloniality, patriarchy and capitalism, to inspect their impact on the development of the dance performance and its techniques. Since 2020 she conducts intensive research and workshops extending her choreographic signature, and focusing on trauma healing, activism, rituality and the transformative body of dance.
Her productions in Germany include: Earthport, Tracings, HAARE, Migrating the Feminine, Rite of Revival, Reinventing Memories, MY DANCE, Re-rooting, WOUND and HEALING.
Limited places, please use the form to register as soon as possible. All the sessions are free of charge.