HIGHER xtn. — originally developed for the Stedelijk Museum —  is an adaptation of Rizzo’s 2015 performance HIGHER, which explores how nightclubs offer dancers a space for self-expression and communion. Drawing from the work of theorists Julia Kristeva, Boris Groys, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Rizzo considers how dance can facilitate states of flow, totality, and transcendence, and acknowledges the connection between dance and para-religious practices. He is particularly interested in the cathartic and transformative power of techno music, whose repetitive rhythms can temporarily blur the perceived boundaries of the body. HIGHER xtn. is also attentive to the important role that nightclubs play as gathering spaces for marginalized groups, and to how clubs foster public intimacy while providing individuals with an environment in which to explore their identities. 

The performance will be held in collaboration with the National Gallery Prague, Lunchmeat and Prague art week.

In HIGHER xtn., dancers negotiate the boundaries between the self and the collective. As the repetition of the choreography reconfigures the group into a single body, Lorenzo Senni’s hypnotic electronic soundtrack intensifies in tandem with the dancers’ movements.

CREDITS:
Concept and choreography by Michele Rizzo 
Music by Lorenzo Senni 
Performers: Max Göran, Arad Inbar, Michele Rizzo, Antonia Steffens, Milena Weber  
Supported by Stedelijk Museum, Mondriaan Fonds, Het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.  
Produced by Dansco 
Executive producer: Michael Scerbo