- 19.08.2017, 7.30 p.m.free admission
Classical ballet is the leading form of artistic dance in the Philippines. Like everywhere in the world, young Filipinos tirelessly train to perfectly execute the weightless movements of princes, princesses and fairies, which populate the stages of ballet. This striving towards levity has a harsh economic background: every year, innumerable dancers leave the island nation to work at Disneyland Hong Kong. In her new piece, Eisa Jocson is rehearsing with members of the Ballet Philippines in an endless loop of being princess as an entry ticket to the world of entertainment – a fantasy world, based on an unattainable ideal of the Other. The open rehearsal gives a first impression of Your Highness, which premieres on 10 September at the Frankfurt LAB.
Biography
Eisa Jocson
Eisa Jocson is a contemporary choreographer and dancer from the Philippines, trained as a visual artist, with a background in ballet. With her work she exposes body politics in the service and entertainment industry as seen through the unique socioeconomic lens of the Philippines. She studies how the body moves and what conditions make it move – be it social mobility or movement out of Philippines through migrant work. In her creations – from pole to macho dancing and hostess work, to Disney princess to Superwoman and to Zoo animals – capital is the driving force of movement pushing the indentured body into spatial geographies. Jocson has toured extensively in major contemporary festivals with her solo triptych: “Death of the Pole Dancer” (2011), “Macho Dancer” (2013) and “Host” (2015) and with the HAPPYLAND series, produced by Mousonturm: “Princess” (2017), “Your Highness” (2017), “Manila Zoo” (2021). “The Filipino Superwoman Band” (2019), a work on the affective labor of Overseas Filipino Musicians was commissioned by Sharjah Biennale. She is a recipient of the 2018 Cultural Centre of the Philippines 13 Artists Award, the winner of Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in 2019 and received the 2021 SeMa-HANA Award for the work TFSB2020: Superwoman, Empire Of Care at the Seoul MediaCity Biennale.