Embodied Dialogues for Change

Lead and Host Institution: UGD (North Macedonia) — Adrijana Danchevska (Film Academy — Contemporary Dance), Jana Jakimovska (Art Academy — Classical Painting)

Partner Institutions: UFV (Spain) — Julie Ann Marsden; LAC (Latvia) — Ilze Zirina

External stakeholders: KUC Tekstil (Cultural Centre Textile)

The course positions choreography, visual arts and language as powerful tools for social transformation. Students engage with the voice of textile workers through testimonials provided by KUC Tekstil, then translate those testimonials into abstract artistic segments — movement, image and language — that culminate in a public performance / installation addressing workers’ rights and broader contemporary social issues.

Through a practice-led, transmedial approach, students explore how embodied practices and creative co-creation can foster public dialogue, give visibility to marginalised voices and enable shared artistic expression across disciplines.

Online sessions (August 2026 · 5h synchronous): Visual research on textile-worker movements, gestures, environments. Choreographic labs introducing movement vocabularies and improvisation tools. Study of testimonials provided by KUC Tekstil (Cultural Centre Textile). Theoretical and research-based foundation for multidisciplinary work. International team formation across UGD, UFV and LAC students.

On-site sessions (31 August – 4 September 2026 · 25h · Stip / Skopje): Intensive practice-led phase combining movement improvisation and embodied research, spatial composition and site-responsive creation, three parallel groups per discipline (Movement / Visual / Language) co-creating a public performance / installation, and daily critiques, peer reviews and mentor feedback.

• Transmedial collaboration: Master the ability to work across movement, visual media and language.
• Social awareness: Understand how to use artistic expression to address contemporary social issues.
• Embodied research: Explore how physical practices can be used as a research tool.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Co-create a multidisciplinary work (choreography and stage design) that fosters public dialogue.
• Translate real-world testimonials into abstract artistic segments (auditive or visual).
• Collaborate effectively within interdisciplinary teams using a practice-led approach.

Level: Undergraduate and postgraduate students from ACE²-EU universities.

Fields: Contemporary Dance and Performance · Visual Arts and Stage Design · Theatre Studies · Linguistics · Sociology / Human Rights (given the focus on NGO testimonials and textile workers’ rights).

Suitable for those interested in: Creative co-creation and working in small, intensive collective groups · Social transformation through art and activism · Interdisciplinary experimentation blending physical movement with visual installations and language · Community engagement using the “voice of the workers” to reach broader audiences.

Group size: Maximum 20 students.

Language: English B1–B2.