The Knife Reveal Details About ‘Shaking the Habitual’ Shows

The Knife have revealed a thorough run through of their upcoming Shaking the Habitual shows, keeping us guessing with vague references to an Absurdist aerobics class and “danceoke” presented alongside the following general statement:

We, The Knife, will be performing live. We will be there, on stage, all seven of us, sometimes all ten of us, or even more. We have worked hard, together. Things, ideas, concepts have been tried, tested, discarded, evolved, perfected and discarded again…

Without giving too much away, here’s what you lucky Europeans can expect from their high concept carnival over the next couple months, via the duo’s official site… 

We just have to go faster we mean breakneck we mean “like crazy”2

We are never faceless, not even in the most grey anonymous streets of the city. We will never stop being responsible, being extensions, of one another. We will never stop longing for each other, and for something else.3

We, The Knife, will be performing live. We will be there, on stage, all seven of us, sometimes all ten of us, or even more. We have worked hard, together. Things, ideas, concepts have been tried, tested, discarded, evolved, perfected and discarded again.

We know of the performative parts of power (Hegemony! Hi!), the on-going upholdance of everything through the performance of everyone. The habitual dance of the ordinary, the narratives of the normal. We know how the norm functions. But this is not every day. We have put on our glitter, we are ready to sparkle. This is special, if we were birds, (maybe we are) our feathers would shine (they do). We are building a place, a scene, a moment. But the blocks aren’t set, the pieces move. We slipper and slide around it, under it, above. Shaking our habitat.

With raging lungs we breathe, exhausted but enthralled. We sweat and smile and frown, laughing at the future, crying at the past, holding on. Legs astride, one foot yours, one foot ours.

You have the most beautiful way of putting one foot in front of the other
Being horizontal is wonderful most things we love are open ended4

Kick, kick, left leg back, turn, kick, right leg. Stay. Things get blurry, that’s ok. We’ll move. Open arms, twisted ankles. We will be performing live.
All of us

How at 5am that warehouse beat is coming up like sour steam.
All over the dance floor we’re asking: can this DNA turn into something else?
It’s not metaphorical. It’s explicit.
No habits!

Of course we’re growing restless.5

1 This text is written and edited by Petter Hallén
2 Jess Arndt
3 Marit Östberg
4 Emily Roysdon

THE EVENING WILL OPEN WITH:

Bremen (26thApril ), Hamburg (27thApril ), Milan (29th April), Zurich (30th April), Munich (1st May), Copenhagen (May 12th and 13th), Oslo (May 15th) and more:

Absurdist Aerobics class taught by a master-teacher-guru-shaman-dictator-aerobics instructor- new age workshop leader, Tarek Halaby.

Participatory/interactive absurdist warm up for anybody who wants it.
Death Electro Emo Protest Aerobics: DEEP AEROBICS

DEEP AEROBICS is a workout form invented and shamelessly disseminated by Miguel Gutierrez, who hopes to soon destroy the technique, because it’s just too hard to teach, and really the world is going to hell in a hand basket anyway. It is the communal/political/conceptual/imaginational workout experience you always wanted but never could embarrass yourself enough to find or do in public. It is for anyone who has ever had any interest in combining the joie de vivre that is the vigorous bouncing of one’s anatomical/spiritual/energetic molecules with the existential absurdity that is living in a world/country/economic system of injustice, war-mongering, and cultural ineptitude. Oh wait, that’s you. If you feel like it: come in your own crazy aerobics costume, whatever that means to you. Taste the sweat.

ps. Take one class and you are instantly a certified master teacher of the form. No yearly dues, fees, reports. Just give credit to Miguel Gutierrez.

Stockholm (16th and 17th May):

DANCEOKE with ÖFA-KOLLEKTIVET
&
COOL PANS – The biggest steel band i Scandinavia!

ÖFA-KOLLEKTIVET is an artist collective and feminist support group through which several performances, workshops, exhibitions and club-performances have been created. ÖFA takes the liberty to challenge the bipolar gender thinking and aim to create a space for gender-free experiences. Breaking stereotypes is to break the system that controls and limits, reins and holds back, shapes and dictates – that’s why ÖFA has an aftertaste of gingerbread, promiscuity, trust, hope, daring and do-it-yourself spirit!
ÖFA: DANCEOKE is like karaoke but instead of singing alone you dance to music videos together with a full dance floor. Danceoke shifts the perspective of performer/audience and makes people come together no matter what.

COOL PANS – The biggest steel band i Scandinavia!
Since forming in 1997, Stockholm based steelband Cool Pans have performed at numerous parties and venues around Stockholm and in other parts of Sweden. But the music doesn’t stop there! Cool Pans have also performed at several destinations in Europe at carnivals and festivals. Norway, Germany, France, England, Denmark have all enjoyed the caribbean music and infectious rhythms, played with an enthusiasm and energy that is significant for Cool Pans musicians.

:AND END WITH DJ SETS BY:
Amsterdam (6th May): Shinedoe
Berlin (May 11th): rRoxymore
London (May 8th and 9th): Hannah Holland
Copenhagen (May 12th and 13th): Pernille Krog Mogensen
Stockholm (May 16th): Lemieux
Stockholm (May 17th): Lemieux & Jin Mustafa b2b
And more to come: