for the listen to live here
If I Can’t Dance
15 Nov 2025 - June 2026
workshop series
If I Can’t Dance
WG-Plein 881, 1054SM Amsterdam
workshop series
If I Can’t Dance
WG-Plein 881, 1054SM Amsterdam
for the listen to live here is a programme unfolding across eight months initiated by shy*play that invites an artful exploration of the making of socialities, with neuroqueering approaches leading the way.
In collaboration with Rajni Shah, Kai Hazelwood, Raoni Muzho Saleh, and Angelo Custodio.
DATES (click for more info & reservations):
15 November – shy*play ➵
4 December – Rajni Shah ➵
7 February – Kai Hazelwood ➵
28 February – shy*play ➵
4 April – Angelo Custodio ➵
25 April – Raoni Muzho Saleh ➵
June TBC - shy*play ➵
shy*play focuses on neuroqueering as a verb rather than an identity—whereby people, intentionally and unintentionally, act in ways that don’t fit, and defy, the politics of normality. Especially the norms that dictate how we express, what communication is; how and if we should speak; how we should move; how we should feel, sense, perceive, and think; and the ableist ideals of independence and individualism.
Experiments in sociality-making are our response, not despite, but with, the oppressions our bodies experience daily in the name of the orderly. We interpret sociality as the emergent qualities of a relational field—human and more-than-human—that shift as the conditions of relation change. This project offers practices for conditioning differently, in refusal, and towards collective, life-affirming ways of being.
Across seven sessions, a range of urgencies will be explored in dialogue with this project’s context. We have invited Rajni Shah, Kai Hazelwood, Raoni Muzho Saleh, and Angelo Custodio to bring their practices and each guide a session, sometimes in collaboration with us. shy*play will guide three of the sessions.
These monthly workshops recognize the significance, for many, of regularity: of repeatedly shifting the conditions in order to unlearn the normative ways into which we have been habituated. The project does so with a strong attention to community, even as newcomers are always welcome at the sessions.
All events are free and open to everyone. Capacity is limited for each event; please register to reserve your spot. Registration links will be posted before each event on the If I Can’t Dance website, shy*play website, and our social channels.
All events are on Saturdays from approximately 14:00 to 17:00 (might slightly change according to the session).
To help everyone feel comfortable and safe, please take a Covid test before the event; if you have symptoms, please do not attend and let us know so we can offer your spot to someone else. Tests and masks will be available at the venue.
Accessibility
· If I Can’t Dance is on the second floor, unfortunately without elevator access
· Gender neutral WC
· Language: English
The project is kindly supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and If I Can’t Dance