Choreophobia

Choreophobia
2018
Performance
Duration: 20 Minutes
Choreographed by Lilian Nejatpour, Eva Escrich González and Lauren Stewart
Performed by Eva Escrich González and Lauren Stewart
Curated by Nora-Swantje Almes and Lorén Elhili (TWTMC Collective)
Lancaster Rooms, Somerset House, London
Photographed by Dimitri Djuric

Choreophobia is a choreographed performance with dancers Eva Escrich and Lauren Stewart, accompanied by a sonic mashup edited by Nejatpour. The work sees Nejatpour's studio practice expand into performance, building upon the artist's research into Iranian histories as well as continuing an ongoing exploration of her own cultural duality through contemporary forms. The performance borrows its name from the theory of dancer and choreographer Anthony Shay, who examined the intervening occurrence of colonialism and Western thought on Middle Eastern dance practices. Shay articulates Western involvement in the Middle East as transforming gender and sensuality in non-Western male bodies, arguing that this interference influenced a phobia toward transgressive and fluid forms of gender display. Nejatpour viscerally works through Shay's concept by placing her own geographical displacement into choreography, sampling movements and sonic references from Northern Bassline club cultures, alongside movements associated with the now banned Iranian solo improvised dance. Nejatpour works with the body as a sculpture in flux, activating forgotten archives of movement and sound whilst troubling cultural relocation and gender stereotypes.

Choreophobia Installation at Bayt AlMamzar, Dubai
2024
Curated by Yalda Bidshahri as part of the group show 'In your dreams' at Bayt AlMamzar
Original Photographs by Dimitri Djuric
Installation images by Abrar Kebaili

Choreophobia live at Somerset House London, Lancaster Rooms
2018
Curated by Nora-Swantje Almes and Lorén Elhili (TWTMC Collective)
Commissioned by Somerset House Studios
Performed by Eva Escrich González and Lauren Stewart