Elevating your voice
In this workshop, Livia Kojo Alour will show how elevating her voice in work crossing the genres of classic entertainment, circus, and theatre has offered the opportunity to defy stereotypes and institutional racism on the intersection of classist and sexist marginalisation. Despite being excluded from higher education in the arts – especially dance – Alour has resisted defeat and built a successful career as a black queer performer. Besides talking about her personal experiences, she will share techniques she uses to make work and discuss the importance of the ongoing decolonising of the performing arts.
is an award-winning Nigerian-German-born poet, musician and theatremaker based in London. Her solo show Black Sheep rose to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. The show was awarded several rounds of public funding by the Arts Council England and the Birds of Paradise Award for Exceptional Theatre. Livia is the author of Rising of the Black Sheep, a daring memoir-style poetry collection that recently got long-listed for the Polari First Book Prize 2023. She also has a 10-year touring career as a sword swallower under her belt. She won several awards with different companies during this time and performed in New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin, and Las Vegas. Her minimalist art piece Female Sword Swallower’s Moon Calendar has been touring museums in Europe since 2019. In 2017, Livia held an inspirational TEDx talk about her life-threatening sword accident and overcoming fear. As a musician, she combines vocals and spoken word in a unique way to address cultural issues and tell her personal stories. She is currently working on her first album. Livia’s show Black Sheep is scheduled for a second U.K. tour in autumn 2023, followed by a concert Europe tour as the supporting artist to Anne Clark.
In English with German translation
Limited number of participants