Mantis Dance is a collaboration from 2022 by Sarah Fitterer and Akua (aka Ahna Prinz aka Marlene G Prinz). Through audio snippets of descriptions of the mating habit of Mantises, as well as quotes of Samirah Raheems iconic interview at a Slut Walk from 2017, the video touches upon womanhood, femininity, sexuality, legislation and autonomy of the female body, sensuality, brutality, the grotesque, the ugly and the “sexy“. It tries to maneuver along a thin line of the mentioned categories above while simultaneously transgressing those in sometimes contradictory ways. By that, “Mantis Dance” is not working as enforcement of certain categories, but tries not to blur the lines between them.
The work is structured in different episodes of fabulated fantasy and (auto-)ethnographic documentary, which is adding a meta level to the multilayered perspectives on erotic dancing. This enhances the attempts of reclaiming the female body and identity, creating a sexy, desired yet still complex and holistic approach of a subjects mind. Through the combination of the curated audio snippets with the visuals displayed, “Mantis Dance” humorously provokes alternative ways of thinking of gender and sex by structuring a human utopia. Note: Due to the explicit and sensitive content of the video only stills are shown. The footage was filmed in July 2022 at Bananen Club, a Strip Club in the Red Light District of Amsterdam.
About The Artists
Ahna Prinz aka Marlene G Prinz is a transdisciplinary artist that works along lines of the grotesque, the ugly, the bizarre, the divine, the sexy, the erotic, the feminine, the roughness, and the toughness with a mixture of socio-political disgust and a playful humorous smile. Her practice is situated in collective and collaborative working formats using various media such as drawings and paintings, videos, installations, choreography, performance, and dance. Topics such as social inequality, oppression, femininity and womanhood, social change, pop- and sub-cultures are intertwined in her works.
Akua is a figure of the night. Light-footed yet determined, she roams the darkness driven by pulsating basses and the moans of her subordinates. Where sweat becomes nectar and her shedding skin becomes ambrosia. Her mission is divine, her judgment strict. Ready for her eternal reign, she condemns to death all those who stand in her way. She is a master at maneuvering between social protocols and the tightrope walk of taboos. Her main practices as an artist are dance, performance, and seduction.
Sarah Fitterer is an artist based between Berlin and the Netherlands. Her work investigates love, agriculture, and power. Speculating about how they often make no sense and all the sense at the same time. She enjoys the collaborative aspect of filming, making the process a big adventure with newly defined rules of what is possible. Besides film, her practice includes graphics, objects, performances and occasional activism. Her favorite animals are chicken, shrimp and cows.
