To the cookie settings To the main content To the footer
© Raoni Muzho Saleh

Julidans: (headbang)

Charlie Laban Trier (DE/NL) & eli eli raymond (SE)
Wed 2 Jul ’25 and Thu 3 Jul ’25
Ecstatic headbanging for a more caring world.
Wed 2 Jul ’25
and
Thu 3 Jul ’25

Two dancers with wildly swishing hair and a drummer engage in a mesmerising, hypnotic trance. Rough headbanging from the heavy metal scene becomes a powerful means of pushing physical boundaries in a quest for ecstasy, while themes of vulnerability, surrender and care for each other - and for the world around us - come to life in an irresistible and powerful way.

In (headbang), a drummer and two dancers challenge each other in a transparent cube. In a physical battle of attrition, where live percussion, whispers, loops and screams merge with the hypnotic headbang cadence, the dancers surrender to the rhythmic energy. In one fluid movement, they transform into slimy slugs, gentle lashers or mopheads, challenging just about all traditional notions of physicality and expression.

The performance toys with references to witches, vulnerability and masculinity, and uses headbanging to explore these notions. The movement, often associated with the heavy metal scene, usually represents strength and aggression. By playing precisely with these contrasts, (headbang) invites reflection on the neglected focus on caring in a harsh, rough world. The physicality of headbanging catapults the audience into an ecstatic, collective experience in which surrender and resistance, chaos and control, collide and merge.

  • Duration: 55 mins. 
Part of

About the makers

Charlie Laban Trier was born in 1987 in Copenhagen and lives in Amsterdam. His dance background is in the house scene, which infuses his movement style with rhythmic freedom. As a transperson, his identity influences his work, in which he breaks conventions and approaches dance as an ever-changing, fluid phenomenon. 

Choreographer and multidisciplinary artist eli eli, or Elisabeth Raymond, works at the intersection of movement and connectedness.  Eli's work explores how bodies - be they people, landscapes or matter - are always interacting with each other. 

Josefin Runsteen is a Swedish musician, producer, composer and arranger. She began her musical career as a classical violinist, but discovered other instruments, such as percussion, in her teens. She has toured with international artists such as Damien Rice, Feist and Frank Ocean, and in 2019 was named Newcomer of the Year by Sweden's national broadcaster.

© Raoni Muzho Saleh
© Raoni Muzho Saleh