Workshop mit Ana Pi / Na Mata Lab - Joy is not a Metaphor

Workshop mit Ana Pi / Na Mata Lab - Joy is not a Metaphor is a three-hour workshop at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm - Probebühne 1 in Frankfurt on 3 November 2026, 18:00. It introduces the creative practice of Ana Pi, who uses joy as a somatic tool to develop new dances and alternative imaginaries. The starting point is the choreographer's most recent group piece "Atomic Joy", which can also be seen at the Tanzfestival Rhein-Main.

Participants engage with the poetic choreographic guidelines, the attitude and the physical vocabulary of the piece. Playful yet precise exercises on rhythm, presence, tension and listening guide the dancers to create new, unseen images and connect them with each other. Between radical autonomy and collective choreography, the workshop focuses on the power of memory and disobedience, so that the repertoire of freedom can grow and expand in and through movement.

The workshop also offers insights into Ana Pi's ongoing research "CORPO FIRME: peripheral dances, sacred gesture", which centres on transatlantic movement and meaning traditions of the African diaspora. Tickets start at EUR 14.