I Keep Dancing On My Own
The Open Body,
Scratch Art Space, Group show, Marrickville, 2018

Dance With Me, by Danica I. J. Knežević, is an endurance performance first performed in 2014.
This reperformance was 8 hours in duration.

This live performance work examines the nuance and subtleties of gender, sexuality and identity: self and other. We all move to a beat, whether it is to the music or our own sound. Others mirror this experience when they interact with that movement and are within our space. The performance was situated within the bedroom. This private space is made visible by a mirror, situated in front of an ajar door, allowing me to be viewed through the reflection. I danced behind the door without music, creating my own rhythm through the beat of my steps.

The performance postulates an internalised longing for another’s reflection. As I dance behind the door, I am internally perpetuating the idea of self within an intimate setting, longing for another to connect with my reflection. The projection and reflection are inextricably linked: one cannot exist without the other. The viewer’s reflection is offered to connect with mine, but we never physically meet; only our reflections dance.

‘The Open Body’ was a one-day performance art program for the Inner West Open Studio Trail, curated by Tom Isaacs and hosted by Scratch Art Space, Marrickville, with support from the Inner West Council’s Arts and Culture Grant. The works performed addressed ideas of visibility and representation of the body and explored the role that the body plays in our experience of self and our relationship with others.

Participating artists: Kate Brown, Stella Chen, Tom Isaacs, Robbie Karmel, Danica Knezevic, Vivienne Linsley, Alex Tálamo, Malvina Tan, Julie Vulcan, Yiorgos Zafiriou, Mariia Zhuchenko.