This movement workshop invites dancers and performance artists to engage in experimental choreography and movement exercises across genres.
The dancer and choreographer Tiffani Achilleas will facilitate the workshop by assembling techniques of different styles such as contemporary, jazz, hip-hop as well as elements of traditional South Asian movement vocabularies. The focus of the workshop lies in exploring limits, question and (re-)define the concept of identity through dance and on how the body is informed by flows of identity, communal rituals and informal storytelling. Considering identity, cultural heritage, and belonging as not fixed but rather in a state of flux and transformation particularly in a world shaped by global movements, migration, and technological transition. Over six days, the participants will explore how dance is shaped by and develops out of fluid identities, centering the body as a vessel of primary experience and expression.
How is identity formed and by whom? What is individual identity in contrast to collective identity? How do our bodies and movements reflect and encounter our identity?
Considering dance as a foundational means of communication, participants will learn about different dance forms, how they are connected and be facilitated to find their own movement quality in order to tell their personal story through.
Through theory sessions, group dialogue, as well as practice sessions, participants are welcome to contribute based on their dance training and with an open mind to experiment and grow through this collective workshop leading towards a production sequence of storytelling with sonic input.
Open Call
Workshop Timings & Location:
- Daily from Wednesday, April 2nd to Monday, April 7th, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
- Kälam – a space for cultural encounters, 50, Kandy Road, Jaffna
Eligible to apply:
- Dancers/ Performers / Choreographers (professional and non-professional, dance and theatre students)
- Interested in exploring different forms of dance and think and move «out of the box »
- age 18+
- Open to all genders (female identifying artists are encouraged to apply)
- Available to join Workshop from 2-7. April daily from 10 am – 6 pm mandatory
- Residents of Jaffna Peninsula
- Lunch will be provided for all selected participants
- If required, assistance with transport can be provided in the evening
Please apply by sending your:
- CV
- Letter of motivation
- alternatively, 1-2 minutes video of introducing yourself and a few words on your motivation to participate
Send your application to
culture-colombo@goethe.de by March 25, 2025.
Selected participants will be notified by March 28, 2025.
About Tiffani Achilleas
Tiffani Achilleas is a professional Tamil dancer, choreographer, actress and performing artists born and raised in Germany. Her work varies from Contemporary dance, Jazz and Modern dance, Commercial dance to Streetstyles such as HipHop and Freestyle. As she group up in the diaspora her work includes matters of identity, diasporic perspectives and the connection to the origins but also to other diasporas. She works on the issue of collective experience as form of identification. As social matters are a part of her dance practice she considers dance as a means of communication. Her understanding of dance goes beyond the domain of storytelling, but encapsulates forms togetherness and empowerment.
