Spine Of Desire: Wounds without tears, out of one skin in diamonds and shit

French choreographer Stanley Ollivier shares fragments of the dance material he is developing for his new research. Together with performers Lily Brieu Nguyen and Mamadou Wagué, his black box performance forms a space where vulnerability, intimacy, and recognition can exist in relation to dance and the body.

In doing so, they draw on the power of spaces for and by people of colour. At the same time, Ollivier and the performers also rethink traditional, choreographic practices. Stanley's personal experience in the underground cultural scene and other spaces of colour made him realize how central community and care are. As a dancer of colour in Belgium-France, he had to find alliances in a ‘mined landscape’. Only then could he feel safe and supported to continue his artistic work.

The emotions associated with people of colour in cultural productions often refer to struggle, suffering, and discrimination. Stanley wants to counter that white gaze in communities of colour. That’s why he focuses on other, often ignored emotions such as joy, calm, tranquillity, and contemplative or eclectic energy. The result is an investigation of dance as a gesture of generosity toward your community, of what it means to feel safe and protected somewhere.  

• Stanley Ollivier is a dancer, performer, maker, physical actor, & DJ from Paris, France. Coming from a gymnastics background, he decided to change his path out of a need for creativity, and went on to study dance and musical theatre at the Académie Internationale De La Danse (AID) in Paris. He continued his studies in Contemporary Dance at the  Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), and at P.A.R.T.S., where he obtained a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Dance. Stanley Ollivier explores alternative ways of being together, dancing, and existing, while questioning notions of normativity and rigidity. He works around questions about the role of entertainment in contemporary dance, context-shifting, identity, humour, care, and versatility. He is part of a new ‘Kaai generation’, and previously presented work during the Open Studios (2022).