Body as Voice. Movement as power.

Jun 11-july 12 2025 Register here.

The city shapes us, but we can shape it back.
Public space is not a neutral backdrop. It disciplines, divides, organizes, according to bureaucratic, economic, and functional logic. Henri Lefebvre argued that this functionalization suppresses spontaneity, diversity, creativity, and encounter. He believed that citizens not only have a right to access the city, but a right to shape it.

This performance is a response. Through movement, we reclaim space for spontaneity, difference, creativity, and connection. In this series, your body asks questions, opens space, and breaks routines together. We practise, explore, and create as an organic group in streets, on squares, in the hidden corners of the city.

What will we do?

We begin in the studio, working with:
• Rhythm, repetition, patterns and disruption
• Compositional and improvisation tools to sharpen your senses
• Interaction with coincidence, passersby, architecture and urban rhythms
• From solo to collective: short, site-responsive interventions
• A final performance in public space

For whom? For performers of all levels, movers, dancers and artists who want to research, experiment, and co-create.

Practical info

Start in studio, Singel 300c Amsterdam and then out into the city
Dates: June 11,18 and 25 July 2,9 and12 Time: 19.00 -21.00 with exc. 12 July
12 July preparation and performance Time:12.00-16.00
Participation fee (sliding scale): €130 – low income.   €145 – average income. €160 – higher income. 

Register & info: petra@petravanaken.nl or register here.

maximum 12 minimum 6 participants

Petra van Aken is a choreographer, performer, and educator with over 30 years of experience at the intersection of dance, performance, and public space. She has taught at art institutions such as ArtEZ, HKU, and Minerva, and has worked as a director in both dance theatre and classical music. Her work blends physical poetry with embodied research and social awareness.

Don’t be choreographed – move back.
Claim space. Slow systems. Be seen.