the works of Petra Zanki
Research

The dance cycle Antibodies

We deal with the bodies of subjects, that exist in our  society, but lack visibility, because they fall through the matrix of what we usually accept as valid or possible. We call them “antibodies’ because they will not pass as any possible category, yet they are there to heal the society. They are what we cannot or can hardly imagine. We observe and research these bodies on different levels: in public space, on our own bodies, theoretically, through interviewing them. We try to grasp their way of being with our own bodies by altering movement principles and body concepts, which we often unconsciously accept as given. These are movements, that we all understand physically‚ because we all have got a body. (Developed together with Britta Wirthmueller.)
The dance cycle Changelings
The cycle Changelings, deals with movements that surge from a close observation of the usual movements in average humans, in relation to implicit memories. This cycle explores the somatic bodies of individuals relying on unexpected and unconscious bodily reactions. Memories of emotional states, physical sensations, and visual and auditory images are all stored in amygdala part of the brain. They tend to return unbidden, automatically set in motion as conditioned responses to various types of stimuli. Movements thus provoked do not operate on a conscious level, but emerge from unconscious bodily knowledge and represent a vast pool for developing performances.