Self-Defense

How can dance become a form of self-defence? Since 2018 the Brazilian choreographers Davi Pontes and Wallace Ferreira have been exploring how choreography can serve as a tool for political resistance in their Répertorio trilogy. Their languages of movement react to colonial continuities, as well as state and police violence in Brazil, by proposing a poetic, collective form of protection beyond fighting or retreating. With the “Expanded Repertory” (working title) and “The School of Self-Defense”, the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz will present a project in autumn 2026 that combines dance, theory, community work, pop culture, Afro-diasporic knowledge, queer perspectives and critical theory into a performative counter-archive. The project’s main components are the world premiere of “Expanded Repertory” (working title) – the first ensemble piece by Pontes and Ferreira outside Brazil – and the interdisciplinary festival “The School of Self-Defence” with workshops, panels, lectures and ballroom.

Artistic direction: Wallace Ferreira, Davi Pontes
Participants: Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Puma Camillê, Marlene Engel, House of Basquiat, André Lepecki, Ana Pi, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Sophie Yukiko and others

Dates

22 October 2026: Premiere
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, | Berlin