Near Misses

How does the body react to fear, vulnerability and failure? What connection is there between these uncomfortable emotions and feminist joy? Sara Ahmed argues that emotions are not private psychological states, but arise from the relationships between bodies, institutions, and norms. In her solo contemporary dance performance, NEAR MISSES, Fotini Stamatelopoulou uses her body as a platform to encourage collective engagement with these affects, opening up the possibility of transforming them into different forms of freedom and collective resilience. The performance captures the moments just before the body, treated as a battlefield, either succumbs to defeat or triumphantly reinforces its power.

Hosted by En–Knap as part of its international guest performance programme, in collaboration with the Mesto Žensk Festival.

Wearable metal objects embody the social burdens imposed on the body while simultaneously serving as protection, making the body resilient to social blows. Metal accessories function as both a burden and an extension of the body. They create an auditory and vocal altar that gradually reveals the raw gesture of seeking freedom and resilience amidst chaos. This process is gradually unfolded through a series of actions interweaving the spoken word, raw facial expressions, self-defensive movements, rattling props and intense physical states, revealing a constant process of becoming that oscillates between silence and rage. The words of Audre Lorde also resonate in this work, teaching us how silence can be transformed into action and how anger can be channelled constructively. NEAR MISSES demonstrates that affects course through our bodies and transform us. This is why collective reflection and a willingness to confront fear and failure are more necessary than ever, both in feminist struggles and more broadly in our society.

Fotini Stamatelopoulou is a choreographer/performance maker with a background in performance psychology and contemporary dance studies. In her personal works, she explores the intersections of performance, sound, spoken word, and text, with a particular focus on contemporary representations of the body, the dynamics of performative labor, the mediation of emotional response, and the cultural articulations of rage. Fotini also collaborates as a creative and movement director as well as an assistant choreographer in theatre, visual arts, and film.