Moving in November – Dana Michel: YOU CANNOT CAN

Performance artist Dana Michel considers the ability to swim to be one of the ways in which we might embody self-trust and wonders why, despite many attempts at learning, she still cannot really feel at ease in the water. And what is it that holds back the majority of her family from swimming, despite hailing from an island that is surrounded by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea? How safe can you feel in the world if you cannot float in the liquid that makes up a large part of your body? After having her solos YELLOW TOWEL (2014), MERCURIAL GEORGE (2016), CUTLASS SPRING (2019), and MIKE (2023) shown in the frame of Moving in November, Michel returns to Helsinki with YOU CANNOT CAN, a new solo performance in a swimming pool. The performance takes place in the spa section of Hotel St. George, located in the heart of Helsinki by the Old Church Park. Surrounded by the audience, Michel wades inside global histories and socio-economic realities of swimming and safe access to water. She uses her kaleidoscopically curious approach to focus on how we might shake off fears. Might this watery adventure be an entry point to ultimate liberation? The performance is part of Moving in November 5.–15.11.2026. As part of the festival, there will be an open Soup Talks discussion with Michel and local host on the 12th of November at noon in Caisa. ** Dana Michel is a live artist based in Montréal. Her works interact with the expanded fields of improvisation, choreography, sculpture, comedy, hip-hop, cinematography, techno, poetry, psychology, dub, and social commentary to create a centrifuge of experience. Before graduating from the BFA program in Contemporary Dance at Concordia University in her late twenties, Michel was a marketing executive, and a competitive runner and football player. In 2014, she was awarded the newly created ImPulsTanz Award (Vienna) in recognition for outstanding artistic accomplishments, and was highlighted among notable female choreographers of the year by the New York Times. In 2017, Michel was awarded the Silver Lion for Innovation in Dance at the Venice Biennale. In 2018, she became the first ever dance artist in residence at the National Arts Centre, Canada. In 2019, she was awarded the ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art (Kuopio, Finland). In 2022, the Canada Council for the Arts awarded her the Jacqueline-Lemieux prize in recognition of her contribution to dance in Canada. In 2024, she was awarded the Prix de la danse de Montréal, International Distribution Category, presented by CINARS. ** Created and performed by: Dana Michel Artistic activators: Alex Samaras, Angélique Willkie, Heidi Louis, Karl Notargiovanni, Roscoe Michel, Sierra Holder, Silvy Panet-Raymond, Simon Couturier, Tracy Maurice, Yoan Sorin. Scenographic consultant - Technical direction: Romain Guillet Sound consultant: David Drury Production: SCORP CORPS - Dana Michel, Viva Delorme. Distribution: neon lobster - Giulia Messia & Katharina Wallisch Co-production: Arsenic - Centre d’Art Scénique Contemporain (Lausanne, Switzerland), Bergen Internasjonale Teater (Bergen, Norway), Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Canada), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium), Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt, Germany), MDT (Stockholm, Sweden), O Espaço do Tempo (Montemor-o-novo, Portugal), Tanzquartier Wien (Vienna). Creative residencies: Baltic Triennial (Vilnius, Lithuania), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity – Leighton Artist Studios (Banff, Canada), Battersea Arts Centre (London, United Kingdom), Centre de Création O Vertigo – CCOV (Montréal, Canada), Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Canada), Fierce Festival and performance, possession + automation with funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (Birmingham, United Kingdom), Institutet (Vitsaniemi, Sweden), Kinosaki International Arts Center (Kinosaki, Japan), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium), marvaða (Reykjavik, Iceland), Rimbun Dahan (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), The Chocolate Factory (New York City, United States of America), Toronto Dance Theatre (T