A Sensoral Lecture is a solo performance by and with Sindri Runudde, in which we encounter five voices through metaphoric dating scenarios. The show deals with auditory romance and love at first frequency, an exploration of sound, and especially the voice, as touch. Through dance, dialogue and movement exercises, the audience is invited to a sensual and sensory lecture with humour, imagination and sensitivity.

Together with composer Marta Forsberg, Sindri explored the concept of a voice message, and the culture of auditive versus text based SMS. Curiously examining the intimacy of the voice message, combined with humorous reconnaissance – realizing that a voice message can be way more intimate than a nude picture.

The performance is based on Sindri’s exploration of the tactile and auditive based movement practice ”Centered Adventures”. With guidance by Sindri, the audience will be invited to try this practice during the performance.

Sälskap is a sensory, interactive performance for all ages by choreographer Sindri Runudde. The work deals with the idea of transformation and is based on the mythological story of Selkie, the seal human, an oceanic myth about a creature that is half seal and half human.In this piece they collaborate with musician/composer Hendrik Willenkes (Belgium/Malmö), and glassblower Anna-Lena Rudolfsson (Östersund).

With sound and touch as the main areas, “Sälskap” plays with the physicality of sound and matter and the approach of the body through dance.

Cosmetic demons: a choreographic salon by Sindri Runudde

Cosmetic demons: a choreographic salon uses the hair salon as a metaphor for a place where our processes, emotions and inner demons can have space to be shared and celebrated. The work is presented through a black-box performance as well as a series of pop-up events, allowing visitors to indulge in a cosmetic transformation.

Both versions of the project will replicate the actual situation of getting their hair done by letting haircuts of pre-selected clients take place in front of an audience. Instead of a traditional mirror, there is a dancer, and instead of a silent theatre there is the hum of a salon. Through the transformative act of dancing, the work explores the historical and community-building aspects of gossip and the function of beauty salons.

The project sheds light on the importance of salons and the gossip that takes place there, and the vital role they have played within the queer community. With curiosity and playfulness, the project asks how community is upheld in these spaces.The work intertwines three different relationships – the care of the individual in the hairdresser’s chair, the client observing the dance and the audience witnessing the whole spectacle – creating a space for both introspection and reflection. In this way the project deals with multiple perspectives on our perception of dance, while unfolding the theme of gossip as a secret (and sacred) process.

Consistent with Sindri’s previous works, the sonic perspective is in focus. Field recordings of gossip, personal conversations, and ambient sounds from different salons will be used to create both text and music for the piece.The project becomes a bombastic and extravagant staging of a simple action – the familiar situation of getting a haircut – and turns it into a both lived and fictive experience. It becomes a celebration of the trust and care inherent in cosmetic work. Instead of dismissing it as superficial bettering, it is imagined as an act of ornamenting our inner demons.

The demons arise like a distant lap dance, springing from the need for change and transformation. The dancers allow this need and longing to appear and be celebrated. In every city/venue the work is performed, local hairdressers are involved in the performance. Like in a waiting room, magazines will be strewn around, serving the function of an extended performance programme. This will be part of making the work accessible through different mediums.

The project is presented in two formats. The stage performance will be made for a black box, an expressive, colourful and atmospheric scenario, featuring nine people on stage: three dancers, three customers and three hairdressers in front of a large audience.The other format of the project is “the pop-up version”, which focuses more on the community work and engagement with other events, places, and contexts, such as festivals and home visits. In this version, the performance can take place with either all three or just a single hairdressing chair. The one-to-one sessions could be private or exhibited as a choreographic installation that accompanies and plays with shared spaces such as foyers, galleries, and other public spaces. In the pop-up version, the aim is to work with both local dancers and hairdressers. This gives the project the potential for intimate and accessible settings as well as open durational sessions. These different formats allow for a space where perception and access can be questioned from a disability perspective.

The concept of cosmetic demons is inspired by an ancient meditation and therapy method called “feeding your demons”, explained in a book by the Buddhist nun Lama Tsultrim Allione. It is also informed by the queer and minority history of gossip that is still thriving. As a choreographer and performer, Sindri continues to work with a playful and humorous approach, using joy, fiction and fashion as tools for queer perspectives and perception-politics juxtaposed with more troubling and dark experiences of the salon.
The work is developed during 2023 and will premiere at Inkonst, Malmö 11th of April 2024.