a spontaneous and thorough newsletter
Whiplash Ballad (2025)
photos by Maria Kousi / Lake Studios
Hi y’all.
According to my Mailchimp account, it’s been almost exactly seven years since I last sent out a newsletter. During the pandemic I switched to TinyLetter to share info about movement offerings, but mostly I haven’t been sending out anything.
Why now? Maybe because all the cells in my body have regenerated (and yours too, except that theory about the body renewing itself every seven years isn’t really true). Metaphorically perhaps. But mostly I’m writing because I have stuff to share and I’d love to re-connect with you.
Here is a smattering of activities I have done, am doing, or will do. Please peruse and participate as you like. While much of this is Berlin-specific, there are a few things for folks in other parts of the world too (see: Online Pilates).
Sending love and hope, wherever you may be,
nicola
Performance Project
PORTALS: A performance project at Tanz Tangente
Rehearsals: October 3–5, 2025 / October 23–25, 2025 from 12-18 Uhr
Performance: October 25 at 19 Uhr at Tanz Tangente
Cost: €180
Registration: info@tanztangente.de
Information day: September 12, 2025 at 18 Uhr at Tanz Tangente
What Does Dance Do? (2024)
A dance research and performance project created and performed last year at Tanz Tangente. It featured Michal Agasi, Steph Hanna, Linda Hillerich, Judith Kohlen, Laura Kremser, Claudia Roick, and Syn (Hyein Jo).
What is a portal? A rift in the familiar, a doorway into the unforeseen. A transition that transforms, a shift that cannot be reversed. An opening. A passage into the elsewhere, where the familiar dissolves and something new takes shape. A threshold, a rupture, a call to go beyond.
PORTALS performance project is a collaborative process that combines dance, theater, song, composition, and dramaturgy. Physical scores, improvisational exercises, compositional prompts, and dialogues intertwine, steering the work in unexpected directions, as each participant's body, voice, and ideas shape the journey. This approach invites participants into a research space where each exercise uncovers new layers of material to be excavated, dissected, and explored.
The project is open to anyone with basic movement experience and an interest in an intensive rehearsal process. The focus is on a deeper understanding of artistic research and performance creation. Together, we will wonder and wander through the world of portals: physical, conceptual, digital, mythological, and fantastical.
Email info@tanztangente.de to register or reach out to me nicolajoy@gmail.com with questions or for more information.
Weekly Pilates
Join me!
I’m teaching nine in-person classes a week and would love to see your face in one of them! Register via the links below.
PMB is short for Pilates Movement Berlin, a studio with two locations (Gleisdreieck and MItte)
TBP stands for The Base Pilates, a studio in Mitte near Naturkundemuseum
ONLINE PILATES
I miss very little about the pandemic except the fact that I taught Pilates online, which gave me a way to connect with people through movement no matter our locations. I’m now considering bringing back 1-2 online classes a week, so let me know if you’d be interested in participating and I’ll keep you posted!
Parkinson’s Tanz
Since February I have been assisting Johannes Schuchardt’s weekly Parkinson’s Tanz class at Tanz Tangente. It’s been an incredible experience of learning, dancing, and connecting with new people. It’s also really fun. If you or anyone you know has Parkinson’s and would like to learn more about the course, feel free to contact me or Tanz Tangente at info@tanztangente.de.
We are on summer holiday until September 8, when we will resume class every Monday from 13:30-14:30.
Doula Training
This past year I discovered that I feel a real call towards working with pregnant bodies and people going through big life transitions, so in May I began a doula training with Camalo Gaskin.
It’s a beautiful program (find more about it here) and I’m beginning to work with some of the principles and practices we are studying in my Pilates and dance classes. I am also eager to work with pregnant people, so if you or someone you know is going through a pregnancy or other big life transition, please feel free to reach out or share my contact details (nicolajoy@gmail.com).
This offer is only available for people in Berlin because touch plays a big role in the connection.
Whiplash Ballad
… is a solo dance I created and performed this year. It is about grief and losing parts of yourself against your will. Here is a trailer from my most recent performance at LAKE Studios Berlin. I hope to continue developing it this next year through residencies, funding, and performance opportunities, so let me know if you know of something!
That's it for now, and possibly for another seven years. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to just say hi and let me know how you’re doing, if you like.
Thanks, and have a beautiful day!
nicola
