A century ago, a young woman turned a night club into an avant-garde scene and her body into a symbol of sensual resistance. Anita Berber, who died at just twenty-nine years of age, is a counter-culture icon, and probably the first woman to perform nude on stage. Her transgressive art, which blends eroticism and gender fluidity, perfectly embodies the creative fever that swept through Berlin in the 1920s. But her works were nearly completely erased by the Nazi regime. All that remains of her magnetic performances are reviews in the press and police reports, which focus exclusively on their scandalous nature.

Stage director Lola Arias collaborated with performer and pole dancer River Roux to create this bold work at the crossroads of documentary theatre and choreography. Alongside Bishop Black, a performer and porn artist, and Dieter Rita Scholl, a non-binary person in their seventies, Roux tells Anita’s life story and brings the enchanting beauty of her performances back to life. Alluding to their own personal stories, the three artists also defy taboos with their bodies at a time when the threat of censure and erasure is increasingly present.

Part of the NEXT festival