Telaboratoria (from Russian ‘telo’ – ‘body’ and ‘laboratoria’ – ‘laboratory’) was a dance improvisation program for trans and queer communities in St. Petersburg, Russia that run from 2017 till 2019. The program was designed for the Russian queer communities to have a safer space to heal, be creative, commune and spend time with their bodies. It was financially supported by Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize during the first year and by the community crowdfunding during the second year.

Oppression happens through people’s bodies and there are multiple studies demonstrating that trauma that resides in our bodies, impacts our daily lives. However, many trans and queer individuals in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia do not have access to spaces where they can safely connect with their bodies, and even more so, spaces where people can have a collective experience in that connection. These trans and queer bodies are widely objectified, medicalized, and demonized, which breaks a vital connection to self and others. Multiple studies on the effects of healing arts show that offering creative somatic experiences such as regular dance and theater practices to marginalized groups can improve their emotional and mental health.

Among Telaboratoria goals were:

• Develop regular self-care
• Find new ways of creative expression through body and physical interaction
• Learn basic relaxing techniques and self-regulation practices, and adapt it to the personal needs
• Understand and develop healthier boundaries
• Get a regular exercise and develop new sustainable body habits
• Learn to listen to and to see each other in our diversity and differences
• Amplify and unite the LGBTQ+ communities, develop empathy
• Understand and access your emotions
• Practice being seen and heard

Telaboratoria program offered around 350 hours of classes, gatherings, full-day workshops and cuddle parties o more than 200 individuals in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Samara in Russia, Minsk, Belarus, and Kiev, Ukraine. The classes were also offered as a part of Helsinki Pride 2018 (Finland), at Gender Studies program at European College of Liberal Arts in Minsk (Belarus), at the Festival of St. Petersburg Women Crisis Center (Russia), at Sign of Equality Festival in St. Petersburg (Russia), at European Lesbian* Conference in Kiev (Ukraine).

To learn more about Telaboratoria history, read the interview published in In Dance magazine, San Francisco, USA (2018) and watch a crowdfunding video about Telaboratoria: