20 Jahre Radialsystem: UNEXPECTED LESSONS 4 – Decolonizing the Body in Dance
Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson
Lecture Performance Workshop
Ticket Prices
All events are free of charge.
For the workshop “Cuerpos de Tierra – Earth Bodies” by Martha Hincapié Charry on 11 September at 1 pm, registration is required.
→ Register here
For the workshop "The Cosmic Body" by Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh on 11 September at 3.30 pm, registration is required.
→ Register here
As part of the “UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound” series at Radialsystem, Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson portray the body as a living archive in workshops and lecture performances, in which history, knowledge, and environment meet. In “Decolonizing the Body in Dance”, which we are presenting as part of “20 Jahre Radialsystem”, movement becomes a practice of reconnection, and an act of resistance and resilience.
What do we mean, when we speak of bodies? Contemporary artistic approaches are questioning the apparently “neutral” bodies in western dance traditions, uncovering the historical and cultural views that have shaped this idea. In indigenous and non-western systems of knowledge, the body is often not a malleable object, but a carrier of memory, relationship, and meaning. The practices of Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson unlock different perspectives: in the lecture performance “The Cosmic Body”, Ramesh sees the body as part of cosmic orders; in “Amazonia 2040”, Hincapié Charry understands it as eco-feminist territory, in which (de-)colonial and ecological questions are inscribed; in the performance “On Unarriving”, Whitson approaches dark matter and dark energy as sacred and cosmic technology.
Programme
11 September 2026
1.00–3.00 pm
“Cuerpos de Tierra – Earth Bodies”
Workshop with Martha Hincapié Charry
in German and English
3.30–5.30 pm
“The Cosmic Body”
Workshop with Dr Rajyashree Ramesh
in German and English
12 September 2026
2 pm – 9 pm
LA PALABRE Space – Tea, Reading & Resting Room with the dance project Coole Kinder
4 pm – 6 pm
“Amazonia 2040”
Lecture-performance by Martha Hincapié Charry
“The Cosmic Body”
Lecture-performance by Dr Rajyashree Ramesh
6.30 – 7.15 pm
“On Unarriving”
Performance by Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson
Biographies
Martha Hincapié Charry is a BIPoC Colombian artist, decolonial curator, choreographer, performer, and researcher who focuses on underrepresented and marginalised BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) forms of expression and struggles.
Indian-born, Berlin-based Rajyashree Ramesh, PhD, CLMA, brings six decades of collective experiences as performer, choreographer, master teacher and researcher. Her artistic philosophy and research work have been shaped by challenges, chances, and questions emerging from a unique B-connection of transmigration – from Bombay > Bangalore <> Berlin, from early training in Bharathanatyam dance theatre and music to its later 45-year cross-cultural transmission in Europe, from a Bachelor in Science from Bangalore University to Bartenieff body work and academic research in Body-Brain processes. Pathbreaking practical applications developed from this seminal integration rooted in her own lifelong corporeal practises are her exploratory tools today for embodied knowing across global contexts.
Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and writer. A Bessie Award recipient and professor at UC Riverside, their work explores Black and trans embodiment through cosmology, performance, and XR, connecting science, spirituality, and experimental literature.
Biographies
Martha Hincapié Charry is a BIPoC Colombian artist, decolonial curator, choreographer, performer, and researcher who focuses on underrepresented and marginalised BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) forms of expression and struggles.
Indian-born, Berlin-based Rajyashree Ramesh, PhD, CLMA, brings six decades of collective experiences as performer, choreographer, master teacher and researcher. Her artistic philosophy and research work have been shaped by challenges, chances, and questions emerging from a unique B-connection of transmigration – from Bombay > Bangalore <> Berlin, from early training in Bharathanatyam dance theatre and music to its later 45-year cross-cultural transmission in Europe, from a Bachelor in Science from Bangalore University to Bartenieff body work and academic research in Body-Brain processes. Pathbreaking practical applications developed from this seminal integration rooted in her own lifelong corporeal practises are her exploratory tools today for embodied knowing across global contexts.
Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and writer. A Bessie Award recipient and professor at UC Riverside, their work explores Black and trans embodiment through cosmology, performance, and XR, connecting science, spirituality, and experimental literature.
Further Information
20 Jahre
Radialsystem für Alle
Am 09.09.2006 wurde das Radialsystem eröffnet. Seitdem ist das ehemalige Pumpwerk an der Spree gewachsen, hat sich verändert und immer wieder neu erfunden – und ist sich dabei als offener Ort für Kunst, Ideen und Begegnungen mit dem Unbekannten treu geblieben.
2026 werden wir 20 Jahre alt, und das feiern wir gemeinsam mit unserem Publikum, mit Künstler*innen, Nachbar*innen, Wegbegleiter*innen und allen, die das Radialsystem gerade erst neu entdecken. Vom 09. bis 12. September 2026 laden wir zu einem langen Geburtstagswochenende ein mit Konzerten, Performances, Workshops, Gesprächen, Installationen, gemeinsamem Essen und vielen Momenten des Zusammenseins.
Programme
11 September 2026
1.00–3.00 pm
“Cuerpos de Tierra – Earth Bodies”
Workshop with Martha Hincapié Charry
in German and English
3.30–5.30 pm
“The Cosmic Body”
Workshop with Dr Rajyashree Ramesh
in German and English
12 September 2026
2 pm – 9 pm
LA PALABRE Space – Tea, Reading & Resting Room with the dance project Coole Kinder
4 pm – 6 pm
“Amazonia 2040”
Lecture-performance by Martha Hincapié Charry
“The Cosmic Body”
Lecture-performance by Dr Rajyashree Ramesh
6.30 – 7.15 pm
“On Unarriving”
Performance by Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson
Further Information
20 Jahre
Radialsystem für Alle
Am 09.09.2006 wurde das Radialsystem eröffnet. Seitdem ist das ehemalige Pumpwerk an der Spree gewachsen, hat sich verändert und immer wieder neu erfunden – und ist sich dabei als offener Ort für Kunst, Ideen und Begegnungen mit dem Unbekannten treu geblieben.
2026 werden wir 20 Jahre alt, und das feiern wir gemeinsam mit unserem Publikum, mit Künstler*innen, Nachbar*innen, Wegbegleiter*innen und allen, die das Radialsystem gerade erst neu entdecken. Vom 09. bis 12. September 2026 laden wir zu einem langen Geburtstagswochenende ein mit Konzerten, Performances, Workshops, Gesprächen, Installationen, gemeinsamem Essen und vielen Momenten des Zusammenseins.
Credits
The series ‘UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound’ is supported by the LOTTO Foundation Berlin. In cooperation with the Betty Center for Movement Research in Dance Studies at LMU Munich. An event as part of the TALKING OBJECTS LAB.
Media partners Radialsystem: taz. die tageszeitung, tip Berlin, The Berliner, Radio 3.
Credits
The series ‘UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound’ is supported by the LOTTO Foundation Berlin. In cooperation with the Betty Center for Movement Research in Dance Studies at LMU Munich. An event as part of the TALKING OBJECTS LAB.
Media partners Radialsystem: taz. die tageszeitung, tip Berlin, The Berliner, Radio 3.
As part of the “UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Knowledges of Body and Sound” series at Radialsystem, Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson portray the body as a living archive in workshops and lecture performances, in which history, knowledge, and environment meet. In “Decolonizing the Body in Dance”, which we are presenting as part of “20 Jahre Radialsystem”, movement becomes a practice of reconnection, and an act of resistance and resilience.
What do we mean, when we speak of bodies? Contemporary artistic approaches are questioning the apparently “neutral” bodies in western dance traditions, uncovering the historical and cultural views that have shaped this idea. In indigenous and non-western systems of knowledge, the body is often not a malleable object, but a carrier of memory, relationship, and meaning. The practices of Dr. Rajyashree Ramesh, Martha Hincapié Charry and Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson unlock different perspectives: in the lecture performance “The Cosmic Body”, Ramesh sees the body as part of cosmic orders; in “Amazonia 2040”, Hincapié Charry understands it as eco-feminist territory, in which (de-)colonial and ecological questions are inscribed; in the performance “On Unarriving”, Whitson approaches dark matter and dark energy as sacred and cosmic technology.
Biographies
Martha Hincapié Charry is a BIPoC Colombian artist, decolonial curator, choreographer, performer, and researcher who focuses on underrepresented and marginalised BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) forms of expression and struggles.
Indian-born, Berlin-based Rajyashree Ramesh, PhD, CLMA, brings six decades of collective experiences as performer, choreographer, master teacher and researcher. Her artistic philosophy and research work have been shaped by challenges, chances, and questions emerging from a unique B-connection of transmigration – from Bombay > Bangalore <> Berlin, from early training in Bharathanatyam dance theatre and music to its later 45-year cross-cultural transmission in Europe, from a Bachelor in Science from Bangalore University to Bartenieff body work and academic research in Body-Brain processes. Pathbreaking practical applications developed from this seminal integration rooted in her own lifelong corporeal practises are her exploratory tools today for embodied knowing across global contexts.
Sage Ni‘Ja Whitson is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and writer. A Bessie Award recipient and professor at UC Riverside, their work explores Black and trans embodiment through cosmology, performance, and XR, connecting science, spirituality, and experimental literature.
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