Open Call: “Boys Just Want to Have Fun” Workshop For Artists
The Artistic Director of ilDance, Israel Aloni, is inviting; self-identifying male people who are experienced performers with significant relation to corporeality and physical practices (dance, physical theatre, butoh etc.), to participate in the workshop of a practice they have been developing for the project, Boys Just Want to Have Fun.
About Boys Just Want to Have Fun
Since 2014, Aloni’s work has been addressing gender and sexuality in both direct and indirect ways, in numerous projects which work through these themes from non-binary and female perspectives. In Boys Just Want to Have Fun, they address homoeroticism and toxic masculinity, how these influence the perception of male figures in modern society and seek to embody post-humanist-feminist agenda through deconstruction and redefinition of the male. Boys Just Want to Have Fun is a durational piece of 6 to 8 hours with a set score which performs in gallery and/or museum spaces.
The project premiered in 2024 in Belgrade, Serbia and was selected into Perform Europe for international touring in 2025. More information about the project can be found on the website.
Content of the Workshop
The workshop starts with a movement session of The I. Aloni Experience led by Israel Aloni – a movement research practice which Aloni has been developing in the past 25 years. The practice works with movement, philosophy and psychology to enrich the experience of the practitioners through attentiveness to corporeality (their physical being) and its relation to the psyche (their personhood) and the World. The session is led as a guided improvisation where there is no importance to form or shape, rather to the encounters between the practitioners and the information which Aloni shares through the session.
Following the I. Aloni Experience session, the day includes a number of group improvisation sessions followed by collective reflections. Each improvisation session is prompted by one of the key concepts and/or exercises that Aloni and the performers of Boys Just Want To Have Fun have developed in the project. There is a specific methodological progression in the complexity and the depth which the workshop’s participants are invited to process in their work. Throughout the workshop, references from art, culture, philosophy, discourse, politics and public affairs are introduced to layer the way we refer to maleness and manhood.
Participation and Duration
All applicants are required to be aged 18 and up. Applicants should identify as male (including trans, queer, and other masculine identities) and be open to working closely and openly in a group setting. English proficiency is necessary for communication, though it does not have to be the applicant’s native language. A minimum of three years’ experience in physical work – either as a student and/or professional – is required. All body types and life experiences are welcome.
The workshop will take place on July 26, at 14:00 – 17:00 (3 hours) at Forum Box, Ruoholahdenranta 3 A, 00180 Helsinki. The number of participants for each workshop is max 20 people. The workshop is free of charge.
Application
If you would like to participate in the workshop, please complete all sections of the online application form here. The application deadline is July 18 (23:59, Finland time).
Applicants will be notified on July 19.
For more information, please contact: , www.ildance.se
ps. there will be another workshop on July 19 that is targeted to those who do not have previous experience in physical work and/or performing, who are particularly interested in the physicality and behaviour of masculinity and manhood.