ZTB E.V. Zukunftswerkstatt feat. Performance Situation Room – Sophiensæle | Freies Theater in Berlin

Olympia Bukkakis, Queen of the Heavens and of the Earth, Empress of Despair, and Architect of Your Eternal Suffering is a drag queen, choreographer, moderator and writer. Originally from Australia, she has lived and worked in Berlin since 2012, organising queer performance events such as Get Fucked, Queens Against Borders and Apocalypse Tonight. After graduating from the SODA Master at HZT in 2019 she presented: Gender Euphoria (2019 Tanztage), Under Pressures (2019 Gessnerallee), Boys Night Out(2020 Melbourne), A Touch of the Other (2020 Risk and Resilience Festival, Sophiensæle) and Too Much (2021 Sophiensæle). Her practice is situated within, and inspired by, the tensions and intersections between queer nightlife, contemporary dance and performance.

Makisig Akin is a queer, transgender Filipino born choreographer, dance artist, facilitator and activist. They were born and raised in the Philippines and are currently based in Berlin. Akin’s work focuses on the recognition of intersectional identities, reconnecting with their ancestry and decentralizing Western ideologies in dance making. Holding spaces for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color is an integral part of their artist activism. Makisig Akin holds spaces, choreographically, curatorially, and educationally, by examining how survival strategies can be translated into a communal physical practice, which are then used as a catalyst for potential creative healing processes. Important collaborators and teachers include mayfield brooks, Jason Tsou, Anya Cloud, Nara Virgens, Eric Geiger, Ajani Brannum and taisha paggett, among others. Akin co-founded The Love Makers Company, a project-based dance company, with Anya Cloud. Akin is also co-founder with Nara Virgens of the Emerging Change Tanzfestival, a dance festival featuring and curating QTBIPoC artists and their collaborators. 

Susanne Foellmer is Full Professor in Dance Studies at Coventry University, Centre for Dance Research, UK. Her research revolves around corporeality and aesthetic theory as well as dance and politics. She has published widely, a.o. on contemporary dance and activism in the embodied public sphere. Foellmer also has been working as a dramaturge for Isabelle Schad, Tanzcompagnie Rubato, and Jeremy Wade, a.o. She is a member of Zeitgenössischer Tanz Berlin e.V.; from 2021–2022 she has been on the advisory board for the conception of a House for Dance and Choreography Berlin.

Some say Sasha Kills was birthed from the galactic embers of a dying star. Others say they atomised spontaneously from the vapours of Berlin Strength XXX amyl nitrate. MC & creator of La Guillotine (Paris & Berlin) & Omelette Du Fromage (Berlin) – Kills is is a Trans* Nonbinary GodX with a Berlin aftertaste a la Mullholland Drive in the early morning. Hybrid between the North American and European cultures and with a constantly-evolving appearance, Kills likes to play with the different registers of Drag but also pushing their concepts to the max till reaching non-human forms.

Legendary dark star of the international scene, reinvention, surprise and absurdity are recurring and essential elements in Sasha’s performances which can be compared to a joker card: impossible to predict what is going to appear and to take place on stage.

Rita Mazza is a deaf freelance artist, visual sign performer, dancer and choreographer. She works in theater plays as an actress occasionally. She speaks Italian Sign Language fluently as well as German, French and International Sign. Since 2010 Rita Mazza has lived in Berlin and is currently working as an artistic director and performer on visual sign performances in Berlin. She has a longstanding collaboration with Making A Difference.