COVEN

Research Phase
COVEN is a multi-phase dance research and creation project developed by Tessa Hall and Júlia Rúbies Subirós.

The project takes as its point of departure the Malleus Maleficarum (1486), a theological and legal manual that played a decisive role in the construction of the figure of the witch during the European persecutions of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. It is particularly interested in the role that the printing press played in the mass dissemination of this cultural imaginary.

Conceived as a multi-year project unfolding in three phases (page, podcast, and stage) COVEN investigates, through dance, voice, text, and artistic research, the mechanisms through which figures of alterity are constructed, narratives are propagated, and forms of knowledge and social control are legitimised.

The first phase focuses on historiographical research, reading, writing, and the development of original methodologies. The second phase will take the form of a series of experimental podcasts that investigate contemporary modes of transmission, belief, and narration through different vocal and sonic strategies. The third phase will translate these materials into a choreographic and performative work, exploring the relationships between body, voice, power, and cultural transmission.

While operating across different media, the project is rooted in an expanded choreographic practice. Research, writing, voice work, podcasting, and stage composition are all approached through a choreographic way of thinking that understands dance as a means of organising materials, relationships, temporalities, and processes of cultural transmission.

Concept, research, and creation: Tessa Hall & Júlia Rúbies Subirós
Medium: Research, podcasting, voice, writing, and performance
Supported by: Workspacebrussels, CAMPO, KunstencentrumBUDA…
Research and development:  2027 onwards