June 4: Justified Rage: A movement exploration workshop


Welcome to a movement workshop exploring anger and rage led by Emelia Koberg!

When: June 4, 15:00-17:00
Where: Galleri Leoparden

Practical information

  • There is a maximum of 20 participants. Sign-up is required here: https://forms.gle/THmRXooAqymqbnrw8
  • To support and show appreciation for the work of the artist, we ask for a participation fee when signing-up. Depending on your means, we suggest contributions from 50 to 200 SEK.
  • The workshop will last 2 hours. The space will be open until 18:00 for hanging out and discussing with Emelia.
  • Comfortable movement clothing is recommended. Bring a personal notebook if desired.

About the workshop
If you’re angry, do you know it? How do you know it? Where do you know it? When is rage justified? How can we invite rage and anger to be our teachers, to move us and to connect us?

In this workshop/lab I would like to explore rage as a source of connection to the earth, source of direction and collective practice. I am inspired by the Queer Black Troublemaker Alexis Pauline Gumbs who in tribute to poet June Jordan, invites us to

let ourselves explore the depth and complexity of our rage, the connection between our rage and our love and the commitment and clarity our loving rage is teaching us.

As a dance artist, my movement is my poetry and my poetry emerges from movement. I invite us to create a space for acknowledging our own rage and pay homage to mothers and sisters and teachers who have been vilified for their rage. Anger is a primary emotion connected to the amygdala, the fight or flight response and unavoidable part of the human experience. At the same time it is also often repressed, shamed and not given space to be expressed and evolve. Power and oppression play into who is allowed to be angry and for what reasons. Drawing on the artists of this exhibit and around the world who are highlighting the connections between the patriarchal-capitalist-neocolonialist system and climate change, this workshop is a place to physically engage with, embody and affirm our rage.

We will bring attention to our connection to the earth, the bones and connective tissue of the earth, to ‘terra firma’, solid ground, the place we move from and that allows our transformation (both historically as a species and in a concrete everyday sense). From there, we will play with the possibilities of stomping, clenching, yelling/repeating “no” and giving time to witness anger/rage and how it might transform or offer knowledge.

With curiosity, care and intention we will explore the physicality, sensations and layers of anger/rage. No previous dance experience is required and there will also be space given for reflection through writing and/or drawing.

About Emelia Koberg
Emelia Koberg is a Swedish-Canadian dance and performance artist and movement teacher with a background in gender, sexuality, environmental justice and education. Emelia facilitates classes and workshops in contact improvisation, improvisation, Acroyoga and yoga. They are interested in the different ways of guiding people to play, connect, listen and find embodied ways to evolve. Emelia collaborates with artists of diverse backgrounds including Julián Benavides, Mariana de Oliveira Costa, Felicia Konrad, Tuva Hildebrand, Tadhi Alawi, Khamlane Halsackda and Graham Adey. Emelia has an Education in Dance and Somatics from the Eastern Finland Sports Institute in Joensuu (2018-2019).

They have completed several courses focusing on queer, feminist and political perspectives of dance and performing arts at the Stockholm University of the Arts (2020-2021). Emelia also has a degree in International Development and Globalization with a focus on gender and environmental studies from the University of Ottawa (2007-2011). Before entering the dance and performance field, Emelia worked with consent and sexuality education, reproductive and sexual health rights and issues around mining and environmental-social justice.

This event is part of the exhibition REclaim, REconnect, REinvent, on the intersection of gender and climate change. For more info, see: http://www.cemus.uu.se/reclaim-reconnect-reinvent-2023/ and https://fb.me/e/2upB4FI0V