LABOUR

A new creation by Emily Gualtieri and David Albert-Toth

LABOUR is a feminist act of creation and reclamation. Rooted in the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, the belief that the world is unfinished and that we are responsible for its repair, LABOUR responds to the urgency of our time. Amid escalating attacks on bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, and gender equity, and as far-right ideologies become increasingly entrenched, LABOUR becomes an act of defiance.

Through phasing physicalites and flashes of absurd humour, the work celebrates the unseen and relentless work of womxn: endurance, vulnerability, and the radical capacity to build and transform. Power is reframed through rhythm, style, and collective force. Raw and unruly, the choreography sways in murky rhythms before snapping into place in fleeting moments of crystallization.

Dance becomes both tool and weapon.

Front-facing, the work is both confrontational and inviting, sharing something immediate and alive. It becomes voyeuristic and collective at once: them watching us watching them. It empowers them, and through them, us. Performed by an intergenerational cast rooted in a plurality of femme perspectives, it embodies the complexity of feminist labour and lived experience. 

LABOUR rejects aesthetic politeness. It is sweaty, intense, and alive, confronting the exhaustion and exhilaration of building something new in the ruins of systems that no longer serve us. Responding to a politically charged, socially fractured moment, LABOUR still holds space for care, connection, and repair.

As old structures crumble and inclusive futures emerge, we ask:

What does power look like when it’s made together?