30.01.2025 | 19:00

Join us for the release of the publication by the artist, dancer, and writer Yon Natalie Mik. As part of the cooperation fellowship between ABK Stuttgart and Akademie Schloss Solitude, Yon Natalie Mik co-taught in the M.F.A. Body, Theory and Poetics of the Performative in the winter semester 2023/2024.

„Studies on Squats“ was realized within the context of this cooperation fellowship, titled „Performance & co-teaching“, and was co-published with Archive Books. It is the fifth book of „Die Frau mit 50 Füßen“ series, edited by Prof. Dr. Cristina Gómez Barrio and Prof. Wolfgang Mayer (Discoteca Flaming Star), focusing on both collective and individual artistic practices relevant to the M.F.A.Body, Theory, and the Poetics of the Performative at ABK Stuttgart.

„Studies on Squats“ uses the multifaceted posture of the „Asian Squat“ as a lens to examine broader concepts of migration, illness, and resilience. In this evocative book, the body – in its most vulnerable and potent states – becomes a speculative site for reclaiming agency through new forms of protest that draw from ancestral strength, humor, and eroticism. This posture, rich with cultural resonance, provides an entry point to imagine ways in which the body can engage in acts of defiance against systems of oppression.

The evening will also showcase processes and explorations from the „Dance and Resistance“ class at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design. Sharing movement, text and sound elements, the artist and her students invite the audience to consider how dance and choreographic thinking can serve as tools for envisioning alternative futures where artistry empowers change.