The UGLY workshop

From the performance DUCKA! (19th of June, 19.00 at Vitlycke – Centre for Perfroming Arts)
“DUCKA in swedish slang for ”Good Girl”. Ducka could also be translated ”to dodge”. The word ducka therefore has two meanings: ”Good Girl” and ”to dodge”.”

“During our work with project DUCKA! we’ve looked at how women are being portrayed throughout history. We are interested in how poses of statues and images and their effect to preconceived ideas of gender qualities. We would now like to invite the public to a workshop that will come to resignate in our continued work”.

During the workshop different tools and assignments using the word UGLY will be given and participants will be invited to face and use the term UGLYness. Project’s creators are particulary interested to meet and explore UGLY in terms of movement, text and embody this together with non-trained-dancers. With the investigation of UGLY we also get closer to the purpose of DUCKA! – realising what being a good girl means (duktig flicka), and deciding what the breaking free will look like.

Evelina Gustafsson
- performer, teacher and choreographer, with Gothenburg as platform.
She’s mostly worked with Camilla Ekelöf, Toby Kassell & Ingeborg Zackariassen, ilDance och Felix Skalberg. This resulted in, for example, dancer in the production The Magic Flute 2017, GIBCA-tour with Transition, dancer for the activistgroup PUSSY RIOT. Her work themes is based on parallel realities and differences. At the moment, Evelina Gustaffson is collaborating with Nilla Björkman to create DUCKA!.

Nilla Björkman
- freelancing as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. As a dancer worked with choreographers like Gilda Stillbäck, Linda Wardal, Anna Bergström, Alexandra Pirici, Israel Aloni, Rebecca Evanne and with companies Embla dans och teater och ReAct Actions Moving. In her choreographic work interested in transforming the stage and keeping the artists close to the audience through story telling. In DUCKA! her research is based on how the pictures created on stage can amplify the story telling.

Tanja Andersson
- freelance performer, dance artist and sound designer/ musician from Umeå/ Stockholm. Based in Gothenburg since 2017. Runs the performative art duo Slip of the Lip together with Emelié Sterner at Teater Kajskjul 46, working interdisciplinary in collaborations. Educated within contemporary dance, sound- and music production in Piteå, New York, Finland, Falun and Stockholm.

Rasmus Persson
is a sound and light artist and engineer based in Gothenburg. Working in-between art and technology, he creates atmospheres and situations through light, sound, space, movement and visual language. Prior works include numerous theatre performances, installations and concerts as a part of Skogen, Teater Galeasen, SR, Atalante, Ställbergs Gruva, Gruppen, among many others, as well as own artistic projects.

Mira Jägemar
- freelancing dancer and dance teacher from Uppsala. She has completed dance studies at Kaggeholm Folk College and Kävesta Folk College with a specialisation in Contemporary Dance and Improvisation. In 2017, she graduated from the professional dance program at the Gothenburg Balett Academy and worked with coreographer Pascal Marty at the Gothenburg Opera as part of the seasonal Youth company NUdans 2017. Following her graduation, she has also worked with coreographer Felix Skalberg on the piece ”Human aquarium” at the museum of Naval History; with Nilla Björkman on ”Tribute to My Teenage Self” at the venue Atalante; with Josefine Chiacchiero on her master exam project ”Sound of Foothold” as well as Georgios Giokotos’ master exam project ”60 Sec” at the University of Stage and Musical Arts. She has been a part of the Spinn Unga Company during 2016-2017, and since 2018 she has toured around the country with her fellow dancer Karin Breisch and their collaborative piece ”4m2”.