nobody stands for nothing, 2021

Root Proposals: Kunstlerhaus Mousonturm & JLU Giessen Theaterlabor
Frankfurt & Giessen, DE
July 2, 4:30pm

Alone together, we speak ourselves into being. Our voices and bodies overlap, existing somewhere at the midpoint of loud and quiet, in between a scream and a whisper. Banalities creep onto our tongues, revealing our innermost desires. Nothing is pure. Under our skin lies our social conditioning, political position, the intonation of a parent’s voice. Stuck in a cycle of confusion and clarity, we listen hard to ourselves and each other. Maybe then we’ll know what to do. Maybe not.

“nobody stands for nothing” emerges out of physical practices I engage as a nonbinary person taking gender-altering hormones. I first encountered these practices through research into trauma therapy and somatic abolitionism (a body-based approach to antiracism). These fields are on the cutting edge of research into the Vagus Nerve, which, when stimulated, activates the parasympathetic nervous system to slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, and calm the mind-body. You can stimulate the Vagus Nerve by humming, singing, deep breathing, chanting, and swaying--all practices we explore in “nobody stands for nothing,” allowing their calming effects to allay our fears and carry us into a space of healing and unconscious self-expression.

Created by elena light
in collaboration with Anna Lublina, Kai Er Eng, René Alejandro Huari Mateus, and Darío Bardam
Performed by Anna Lublina, Kai Er Eng, Darío Bardam, and elena light
Thanks to Barbara Luci Carvalho Bub, Rose-Anabel Beerman, and Bojana Kunst for creative support

Presented by Kunstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt and ATW Institut TheaterLabor, Giessen