Dates
| 19.08.2026 / 16:30 |
Information
In a world of cold metal and warm human flesh, Metal on Metal explores the coexistence of these two materials, questioning the boundaries between life and matter, body and object, where agency extends beyond the human. The audience is invited into an immersive environment where metal penetrates the choreography, sound, costume, and scenography, constructing a landscape of beauty and disaster. A metal-filled world is forged by a fusion of textures, colours, and resonances, reflecting the consequences of living in an industrialized, mechanized reality where violence, noise, and power collide with moments of intimacy and transformation.
Is there such a thing as metallic life—a restless activeness, a destructive- creative force, a presence in its own right? (Jane Bennett, Vibrant Matter, 4. A Life of Metal)
Photos: Anna Bartolotti, Marc Wellens
Emily Jane Steele is a Czech-British dancer and choreographer based in Belgium and the Czech Republic. Her work explores the relationship between the body and material, and the connections between the visual, physical and sonic. Her choreographic practice is based on movement research, improvisation and working with abstraction. In her projects, she creates situations that stimulate curiosity and open up space for a multi-layered sensory experience.
In the project Metal on Metal, she collaborates with Belgian composer Ali Debie, who works with sound and musical structure in a performative context.
Emily studied at the Duncan Centre Conservatory in Prague and graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp in Belgium. She is part of the newly formed collective DRAFT8, which brings together eight international performers with a common interest in collective creative work.
30–45 min. / loud music
FREE ADMISSION
presented as part of the student residencies at Studio ALTA
Choreography and performance: Emily Jane Steele
Set design: Emily Jane Steele
Costumes: Emily Jane Steele, Moryana Filipova
Composition and sound design: Ali Debie
Music: Metal is Forever – Primal Scream, La Guitaristic House Organisation – Rinôçérôse
External perspective: DRAFT8 collective
The project is supported by Nová síť z.s. as part of the Nová krev na scéně program. It is also realized with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the organization Johan, zapsaný ústav (Moving Station).
Special thanks to the following residency spaces: Corso Cultuurhuis, Merksemdok, Studio ALTA, Moving Station.