Universal Tongue - Anouk Kruithof

 "Dance — the moving body — more than anything in our diverse and complex world unites us in the recognition of our shared fragility and our common human condition. It also points us towards a possibility of a more inclusive world with limitless exchange and understanding of new identities, a world where simply everyone is a dancer."
— Anouk Kruithof

The dance-conclave Universal Tongue leads us through the jungle of the internet. The work explores how dance has developed throughout history as part of our global media culture, and how it nowadays manifests online. The rousing installation is based on 32 hours of video presenting thousands of different dance styles, collected from YouTube and Instagram, and selected by a team of 50 researchers from all over the world.

The ongoing loop of moving image erases typical categories of the world order, such as country, continent or culture. Instead, it looks at our era of fluidity, hybridity, and non-stop connectedness, respecting the value of our historical backgrounds, cultural differences, and individuality.