Nimia Gracious is an afro-swiss performer, participatory social arts practitioner, de-colonial researcher with her focal around emancipation through communal rituals. Since graduating her BA honours degree in Urban & Contemporary dance certified by the University of West London in 2021, she is working in the independent performance art scene. Nimia is based in Zürich, Switzerland, where she organises ballroom community events. Fostering environments, which center immigrant QTBIPOC* and benefiting their situation within the omnipresent structural oppressive mechanisms. Her big motivator is the mission to transgress gaps in terms of missing access points to the state subsidised cultural sector in the swiss landscape. Her artistic practise involves tackling the dance styles voguing and twerking, which both are representing the demographics in quest, and frames them into a contemporary performance art context, without commodifying the dissident bodies and art practices of her collaborators. She wants to highlight those who are representing the community responsible for the artistic craft itself. Overall she is distinctly informed by somatic approaches/ rituals revolving around her spiritual connection to afro-trans ancestry and resonates with different transcontinental, indigenous, varying forms of what we would call „queer“ in the modern context. Furthermore, she is touring internationally as an interpret in several theatre productions. In summer 2023 Nimia participated in the DanceWEB residency program with a scholarship from Pro Helvetia.
Sharing
Nimia Gracious, Pink Nation / Experi_Betriebsbüro (E_BB)
Twerkshop – The Music*all
In this sharing, Pinknation around Tanzhaus accomplice Nimia Gracious show insights into their first production (premiere: 30 April 2025, Tanzhaus Zurich). They will present material compositions created during public dance sessions and during the initial residency week, focusing on themes of self-empowerment and the transformation of colonial legacies through dance.
An ecosystem for marginalized OTBIPOC* bodies, fostering exchange and freedom of expression through movement.
The audience is invited to ask themselves the following questions: Which spaces are inviting for twerking Black people? Which are not? Why?
Contrasting, powerful, critical and creative - build bridges of inclusion are built through dance and dialogue, supported by new paradigms that span arcs between peripheral realities and white institutions.
By and with Lateena Plummer, Nimia Gracious, Sarah Francesca Le Goas, Rominio Cayol, Andrick Pantophlet
Production Experi Theater
Photo Adebayo Quadry Adekambi
The assosciation "Pink Nation" was founded in March 2024 by Lateena Plummer, Sarah Francesca Le Goas, Romincio Cayol and Andrick Pantophlet. Pink Nation supports marginalised communities with a focus on LGBTQIA+ /// QTBIPOC* (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) in the areas of music, dance and performance. In administrative terms, Pink Nation works together with the Experi Betriebsbüro (E_BB). E_BB was founded in 2021 by Experi Theater as a production office that supports BIPOC* artists and gathers non-white knowledge about production work. Currently, more than 14 artists and groups work within the organisational structure of E_BB.
Dates / Booking
19:00 — 19:30
- This event is free of charge
Bühne 1
Tanzhaus Zürich
Wasserwerkstrasse 127a
8037 Zürich
- Duration: 30m
- English
- Wheelchair accessible
