Hackney Showroom announces JOY & DISSENT: A festival of cultural activism from 27 March – 9 April

Malik Nashad Sharpe, AKA marikiscrycrycry.

Curated by Hackney Showroom Co-Director Sam Curtis Lindsay and Associate Artist Malik Nashad Sharpe, JOY & DISSENT is an exuberant festival of live performance across dance, comedy, drag, spoken word, live art, physical theatre & workshops exploring joyousness as political performance, beauty as radical protest, and whether resistance by its very nature must be painful.

Femme Feral’s THERESAMAYSMACKDOWN.

Choreographer Malik Nashad Sharpe says “I feel strongly that this festival is really about contextualising and materialising joyousness. Perhaps now more than ever, is it imperative that we find robust and ulterior ways to dissent against the increasingly dogmatic politics of hysterical fear, division, and negativity.

“It’s not about proposing simple answers to complex questioning, it is about using the material, the body, the stage, the air, and the witness, to suggest a new kind of strategy to emerge new worlds.

“The artists curated to participate in this two-week event are gathered by the visceral nature of their work and a myriad of engagements with joy and dissent – there will be anti-fascist wrestling, bear-dances, gunshots, and lots of running around in the sharpest stilettos.”

Festival comedy includes Megan Ford’s Unbossed: Live with Nish Kumar & Bisha K Ali (Above: Megan Ford’s Make America Slay Again)

Look out for a stellar comedy line-up, including Jayde Adams, Gabby Best & Nish Kumar, a new film courtesy of FRINGE! Queer Film & Arts Fest, some bold new dance pieces, including Dalston Ballet & Alessandro Marzotto Levy from Impermanence Dance Theatre, brand new work from performance artist Travis Alabanza and a political work from chamber orchestra Ruthless Jabiru in partnership with Art Not Oil.

As Hackney Showroom enters its third year of showcasing a bold and diverse programme of work, it invites audiences across Hackney to bask in the light, plight and darkness of these artists as they attempt to illuminate and embolden us.

Travis Alabanza’s BURGERZ.