Open House Festival | Oneka von Schrader

When the Greek goddess Demeter was mourning over the death of her daughter only her friend Iambe could make her smile again – by lifting her skirt and displaying her sex. And when the Japanese goddess of the sun was hiding in a cave depressed, the goddess of dance Uzume cheered her up by undressing so comically that crowds started to laugh and the sun curiously came back out. Stories like these, of the ritualistic display of the vagina for consolation or support, can be found in mythologies all over the globe. They tell about vaginas that cure depressions, protect whole cities, and even scare bears away. Superdance taps into these histories of positive and powerful representations of the vagina. The five female Superdancers create their own collective Ode, de-mystify the area ‘down under’ and defy ideas of their sex as a gap, a hole, or a lack. Superdance playfully outstrips ideas and images that have been projected onto the body of the female dancer for so long. It is no less an attempt to re-enchant dance as such – to let her lift her skirt.