(long arms) (extended)

Matilda Cobanli (Canada, 1995) studied contemporary dance at Modus Operandi (Vancouver) and is now in her second year at SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Austria). Lately her practice has included long distance love/art making, particularly in collaboration with Layla Marcelle Mrozowski (USA).

Stine Sampers (Belgium, 1993) studied Art History while working and exhibiting as a visual artist, mainly using photography as a medium. She is currently finishing her bachelors in dramatic arts at KASK Drama (Ghent, Belgium). Having danced intensively from age 8 until 18 and building up some experience as an actress in film, she is now researching different ways of combining visual and (live) performative arts within her own practice.

Stine and Matilda met in Brussels in spring 2017. They share an engagement towards building a platform for a feminist queer circle founded in Brussels and maintained online and through sporadic live meetings. Their interest lies with feminist theory and practice, the arts and building an imagination surrounding intimacy and relationships as a strategy of resistance/resilience.

After an initial meeting in November 2017, this project has been developed and rehearsed mainly through the use of Skype and PiratePad (similar to GoogleDocs). Matilda would visit Belgium every six weeks or so and they would continue their virtual research within the context of Circle Meetings as proposed by Stine, in addition to other more informal meetings. A Circle is a scored group meeting that delivers a range of materials for discussion, such as text, music, choreography, location, etc. The scores can be prepared beforehand and are often tweaked during the Circle. Sometimes they unravel and become something else. The Circles include varying constellations of participants and different conversational methods and settings, as well as ‘off score’ moments that can be seen as breaks from the score but also as instances to reflect on the course of the Circle.Matilda Cobanli (Canada, 1995) studied contemporary dance at Modus Operandi (Vancouver) and is now in her second year at SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Austria). Lately her practice has included long distance love/art making, particularly in collaboration with Layla Marcelle Mrozowski (USA).

Stine Sampers (Belgium, 1993) studied Art History while working and exhibiting as a visual artist, mainly using photography as a medium. She is currently finishing her bachelors in dramatic arts at KASK Drama (Ghent, Belgium). Having danced intensively from age 8 until 18 and building up some experience as an actress in film, she is now researching different ways of combining visual and (live) performative arts within her own practice.

Stine and Matilda met in Brussels in spring 2017. They share an engagement towards building a platform for a feminist queer circle founded in Brussels and maintained online and through sporadic live meetings. Their interest lies with feminist theory and practice, the arts and building an imagination surrounding intimacy and relationships as a strategy of resistance/resilience.

After an initial meeting in November 2017, this project has been developed and rehearsed mainly through the use of Skype and PiratePad (similar to GoogleDocs). Matilda would visit Belgium every six weeks or so and they would continue their virtual research within the context of Circle Meetings as proposed by Stine, in addition to other more informal meetings. A Circle is a scored group meeting that delivers a range of materials for discussion, such as text, music, choreography, location, etc. The scores can be prepared beforehand and are often tweaked during the Circle. Sometimes they unravel and become something else. The Circles include varying constellations of participants and different conversational methods and settings, as well as ‘off score’ moments that can be seen as breaks from the score but also as instances to reflect on the course of the Circle.