KIDS IN THE BASEMENT

Ashraf Alali (Berlin), Katrine Bregnum (Berlin), Noemi Ferrari (Berlin), Julie Velvet (Berlin), Dennis Trendelberend (Berlin)

Playing Times: Friday 11:00 – 21:00 / Saturday 11:00 – 21:00

Location: Keimkasten II (Alte Mälzerei)

As KIDS IN THE BASEMENT we explore the many facets of childhood. In curious playfulness we encounter one another, trusting our feelings and impulses and allowing them to find immediate expression. Within the dim and shadowy atmosphere of the Keimkasten we also creatively engage with the more hidden aspects of our inner children.

On Friday and Saturday a series of workshops will take place between 11:00 and 21:00. The interventions in this space will be offered by Ashraf Alali, Katrine Bregnum, Noemi Ferrari, Julie Velvet and Dennis Trendelberend (all Berlin). Nearly all of them will be presenting at Xplore for the first time, bringing fresh approaches to storytelling and embodiment, chanting and kink as well as movement and meditation.

Ashraf Alali is a Psychologist, Yoga teacher, Life coach, and community facilitator. Ashraf brings together movement practice, personal development, and deep human connection to create spaces where people can grow physically and emotionally. “In times of division and distraction, coming to grow together is Evolution.”

Katrine Bregnum is a multidisciplinary artist oscillating between movement and sound. She is a graduate of the performing arts school Performers House in Denmark and the contemporary dance school Die Etage in Berlin. She has been part of several productions by Lenka Vagnerová, Yeri Anarika, and Chaim Gebber, among others. As a sound artist, Kat has worked and toured with her solo project, as well as creating cross-disciplinary work for dance, installations, and A/V productions.

Since 10 years she has been presenting both as a mover and sound artist in sex positive and tantric festivals, institutions and spaces. Her main interest as a creator roots in improvisation and instant composition. To be right inside of vulnerable curiosity, letting go of any prejudices ideas and control of any outcome. Her most recent research and practice, Becoming Animal, explores the act of letting go – not to become less, but to create space for more of what lies beyond the pre-programmed concepts of identity and “reality.”

https://katrinebregnum3.wixsite.com/fluidmovement

Noemi Ferrari (she/her) is an actress, dancer, and voice actress. Trained at Stage School Hamburg and Schauspielschule Frese, she has been performing on stage for over ten years —from the Badisches Staatstheater to the Hebebühne Hamburg to international dance and performance festivals— and has lent her voice to over 400 roles in various films and series as a voice actress.

Her work moves between voice, body, and sexuality, combining tools from acting, dance, and performance practice with experiences from the BDSM scene. She rejects the term “negative feelings”—for her, every emotion, whether anger, shame, fear, or joy, is valuable material to play with.

Julie Velvet is a tantric, full-spectrum, upwards-spiraling being. She worked her way out of society’s corset and now cultivates a courageous heart, authentic connections, and divine pleasure. She is a devotee to her body’s mystical intelligence. Julie’s driving force centers around the question of how to feel alive, vibrant, authentic, free, and intimately connected with life. In her work, she focuses on liberation, intuitive knowledge, self-empowerment, healing, and wellness. She loves embodied, sensual, and erotic expression in its many forms and has facilitated transformative workshops, organized kinky festivals, and supported numerous temples, play parties, and tantric events. She is honored to support people on their journey out of the land of unfortunate conditioning and endless avoidance strategies – into visual poetry and an erotified, celestial existence.

Dennis Trendelberend is an author and educator. His keen interest in language also shapes his body-related workshops. Grounded in a dialogical approach, they interweave thought and sensuality, reflection and immediacy, listening and impulse. In doing so, Dennis explores the diverse kinds of contact and forms of physicality. A mindful perspective emerges that brings together creative kink, trauma-informed sexuality, and a queer sensibility.

Dennis studied creative writing at different institutes and has been teaching it himself for several years at a renowned drama school. His wide range of publications includes short stories, essays, reportages, and poetry. He has also written for film and radio.