Battle x Ball

House of Saint Laurent & M.I.K. Family in collaboration with Wedding Renaissance

This event happened independent, but in affiliation with the Wedding Renaissance Festival in September 2022

This dance event was a way of connection the Ballroom community with other dance communities in Berlin, pre-dominantly, Hip Hop, Krump and Breaking. It allowed two world that exist parallel to each other meet and exchange in a battling format that is common to Ballroom, but new in other dance battle contexts. Within the context of the Wedding Renaissance festival, which was a celebration of Blackness, the Black experience and many things surrounding it, the dance event afforded a space of getting to know one another, but also a space of recontextualising race, queernes and other intersections in these dance cultures and other realities related to them.

A large chunk of the work was organisational with a lot of improvisation at its best for the team. It was by far one of the most spontaneous experiences as a (co-) organiser for me. Whether it is about delegation or decision making, the socalled practice of improvisation was practiced in excellence by all organisers.

Georgina Philp & Prince Ofori & members of the House of Saint Laurent were crucial in making sure this event went through, as well as some members of the Wedding Renaissance organisation.

Additionally Georgina, Prince and I held a talk about the importance of BPOC dance spaces, which was part of the Wedding Renaissance Festival program.