Residencies

• 22.06 > 26.06.2026

Accompanied by Eimi Leggett and Géraldine Haas, Nathaniel revi­sits their prac­ti­ce of wri­ting con­tem­po­ra­ry dan­ce choreography.

STAPLES, is a fra­me of 5 dan­ces writ­ten alongsi­de songs that Nathaniel grew up lis­te­ning to in Corpus Christi, Texas. Mainstream, coun­try, and tras­hy, the­se songs sum­mon an affec­ti­ve con­text that Nathaniel des­pe­ra­te­ly wan­ted to esca­pe, pro­po­sing for­ma­ti­ons of belon­ging through nati­o­na­lism, patri­otism, and con­su­me­rism. At the same time, the­se songs per­form the fee­ling of home. This con­tra­dic­ti­on offers a crack for Nathaniel to pro­du­ce yet ano­ther gestu­re cri­ti­quing ame­ri­ca­na, whi­te­ness, iden­ti­ty, and the emp­ti­ness inhe­rent in the us-ame­ri­can neo-libe­ral simulacrum.

To address this con­text, Nathaniel draws from their research Infrastructure of Ghosts, which they stu­died at a.pass in 2021. This is a move­ment based soma­tic research, orien­ted towards a spe­cu­la­ti­ve sen­so­ri­al rela­ti­ons­hip with the invisibilized.

Nathaniel also draws from the for­mal under­stan­dings of dan­ce given by Paz Rojo in her book ​‘To dan­ce in the Age of No Future’. In 2023 Nathaniel led a research group, The terms of dan­ce, to gather around Paz’s book and tho address the ques­ti­on. how does dan­ce emer­ge on its own terms in a per­for­ma­ti­ve con­text? A dan­ce of minor gestu­res and weak lan­gu­a­ge. a ​“raw semi­o­tic material”(Paz), or a thing that feels, which may­be was said by Lepecki, but also may­be Moten. Nathaniel ima­gi­nes a dan­ce and the forms it moves through as a dee­ply felt imper­so­nal surfa­ce, per­haps ano­ther way to say it, a folk dance(?).

Bringing the­se 3 ele­ments together, ame­ri­ca­na cri­ti­que, haun­t­olo­gi­cal spe­cu­la­ti­ve soma­tics, and for­mal dan­ces, Nathaniel dives back into wri­ting con­tem­po­ra­ry dan­ce cho­re­o­grap­hy for 1 week at Kunstenwerkplaats.