FRESH: UNDER MY UMBRELLA

Ballroom and theatre both have their own codes and performance traditions. In Makers Track, four artists from the Ballroom scene draw on the knowledge and practices of their world and explore creating in dialogue with theatre. What emerges from this encounter, and how might it challenge our ideas of what performance can be?

Since October the makers have been working on their own research. They started with workshop weeks at Theater Zuidplein, shared a first look at their research at Lab Z on 29 October, and are now in a five-week residency at Maaspodium. There they turn their research into a first version of their work, experimenting with movement, music, space, light and dramaturgy.

On December 11th all of it comes together in one evening: four new choreographic works of 15 minutes each. 

Under My Umbrella is a platform, founded in 2023, that supports emerging ballroom artists in developing their practice in performance contexts beyond ballroom. Makers Track is its choreographic development trajectory, running for the first time from October to December 2026.

Bella Pattinasarany, “Bella Dolcé”

Bella is a performer, dancer and model with a background in commercial dance and a love for storytelling. In ballroom she walks Vogue Fem and Face, and she was the first Femme Queen of the Year in Europe. For an earlier Under My Umbrella event she created Time for T, a performance centring the voices of trans women in ballroom.

Deion Simon, “Deion Balenciaga”

Deion is a freelance dancer and performer with a strong focus on vogue. In ballroom he walks Butch Queen Vogue Fem and is seen as a mentor to many Black and queer performers. He performed in Project Fools by Robin Ninamong. In his own work he explores how movement, identity and creativity shape each other.

James Parnell, “James 007”

James is a performer, choreographer and educator. He has been active in the scene since 2017 and is a staple of the Old Way category, which he also teaches. His work looks at how communities grow and fall apart, as in Hold Me Closer, made with Korzo. Now he focuses on masculinity within the Black transmasculine community and on how ballroom ethics translate into theatre.

Venla Keskinen, “Miila 007”

Venla is a choreographer, performer, educator and cultural producer. She has been active in the scene since 2015 and has made her mark internationally as a New Way voguer. Her work explores belonging and how Ballroom practices and knowledge can encounter different artistic contexts on their own terms. Her latest solo work Somebody’s Watching Me (2024) has been presented internationally. She is the founder and artistic director of Under My Umbrella.