De(s)possession(s)

For the fourth iteration of Dance First Think Later (DFTL26), Vanessa Riera has created a new runway performance featuring both newly made and existing costumes. To realise the project, she has brought together a mixed community of young people with lived experience of migration, students in artistic training, and young people facing social exclusion. Through a series of workshops, participants collectively prepare the project and become the performers in the runway performance. The team also includes a choreographer, a musician, a scenographer, an assistant, a technician and a make-up artist. The garments used as raw material come from discarded textile collections and are unsuitable for reuse. Sorted and supplied by a social clothing bank, they are transformed into sculptural, elegant garments.

Riera has previously created two runway performances: RAGS, presented at Comédie de Genève in partnership with Antigel Festival in 2024, and Apparitions, presented in the Passage Malbuisson in 2025 in partnership with the Hospice général. Several participants from these earlier projects are involved in the new work, passing on their experience to those joining for the first time. Likewise, members of the artistic and technical team support the young participants through a process of mentorship, knowledge-sharing and skills development.