Magic Maids
In the context of the stigmatisation of migrant workers, accusations of witchcraft still occur even today. Magic Maids turns the tide on oppressive power structures. The performance as a cleansing ritual, the broom as an extension of the body and a tool for transformation: it is both a domestic cleaning device and a witch’s vehicle, a symbol of oppression and resistance at the same time. Sharp-witted and revealing, Jocson and Perera remind us of the complex effects of historical injustice on modern labour practices and the power of female solidarity.
is a visual artist and choreographer based in Manila. She came to contemporary dance through pole dance. In her pieces, she explores the entanglements of gender, affective labour, migration and corporeality. She explored the economies of pole dancing, appropriated macho dancing – a form of hypermasculine erotic dance practised primarily in Filipino gay bars – and examined the expressive and movement vocabulary of Disney characters such as Snow White, a role denied to Filipino performers in amusement parks. She regularly presents her pieces at renowned theatres and international festivals in Asia and Europe, such as Tanz im August, TPAM Yokohama, Zürcher Theaterspektakel and Frankfurter Positionen. In 2018, she received the Culture Centre of the Philippines 13 Artists Award and, in 2019, the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award.
is a choreographer, performance artist, curator and educator from Colombo. Exploring the power dynamics of visibility and opacity, she attempts to destabilise how we perceive the ‘other’. Her solo and collaborative creations deal with violent nationalism, patriarchy, immigration, colonial heritage and class and were invited to festivals/biennales/symposia across Europe, South and East Asia, the Middle East and Africa since 2008. She has closely collaborated with choreographers Geumhyung Jeong and Natsuko Tezuka. Venuri conceived and curated the projects of the Colombo Dance Platform (2015–2020, Goethe-Institut) and is committed to continuing to create support networks for the independent dance scene in Sri Lanka. A graduate of DAS Theatre, she is currently based in Amsterdam.
Credits
Concept, creation, dramaturgy, performance Eisa Jocson, Venuri Perera Light design Ariana Battaglia Sound design Soraya Bonaventure Artistic advice Rasa Alksnyte Text advice Ruhanie Perera Spiritual advice Nenet Ocson Babaylan-Vaigaland Outside eyes and ears Arco Renz, Tang Fu Kuen Dramaturgical support Mousonturm Anna Wagner, Alexandra Hennig Production advice Sandro Lunin Technical production Seok Hui Yap Producer Katja Armknecht, Anne Kleiner Production management Paula Elena Noack, Greta Katharina Klein Production Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm Co-production Frascati Producties (supported by Ammodo), Tanzquartier Wien, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Spring Performing Arts Festival, Festival Theaterformen, DDD – Festival Dias da Dança, Kampnagel, Arsenic – Centre d’art scénique contemporain, La briqueterie CDCN du Val-de-Marne, Points Communs – nouvelle scène nationale Cergy-Pontoise / Val d’Oise, Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg – Scène européenne and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Funded as part of the Alliance of International Production Houses by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media and the Hessian Ministry of Science and Arts. This project was supported with residencies by Kaserne Basel, Puón Institute Philippines, Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka, Dance Nucleus Singapore, Studio Plesungan Indonesia and Colomboscope Contemporary Art Festival 2024.
The artists wish to thank the wonderful wise working women who generously shared their knowledge and stories with them.
In English