A special emphasis on the intersection of music and dance will be ongoing at the HAU2 venue via focus points on pioneering artists and art forms.

In FIVE, another multi-night showcase at HAU2 exploring the crossroads of movement and sound, multidisciplinary American artist Rashaad Newsome will investigate African, European, and North-American roots in the NYC underground dance tradition, vogueing. Accompanied by a makeshift orchestra comprised of NY-based Mc. Princess Mami Precious, baritone opera singer Justin Austin, and five local musicians, five dancers represent – and perform – each of the five individual elements of vogue femme. Using video game controllers and custom motion tracking software, Newsome maps and visualizes the movement patterns of dancers in real time. During the performance, drawing, music, dance, and technology collide and build into a beautifully structured crescendo of sound and movement.

Preceding FIVE, club accelerationist Lotic and classically trained American dancer Roderick George team up to present “Embryogenesis,” a piece exploring the restrictions of assigning certain dance genres to specific racial groups or cultures. The collaboration investigates the potential of blurring boundaries between "high" and "popular" culture, setting classical and modern dance styles to Lotic’s metallic dancefloor blowouts in a kinetic, ever-evolving exchange.

FIVE Berlin is kindly supported by the Capital Cultural Fund.