Final Class: Gymnastics

Beats per Minute Cultural Group presents the walking dance theatre performance Final Class: Gymnastics. It is a piece that blends elements of documentary theatre and devised theatre, aimed at teenagers and young individuals. The creative team invites audiences to ponder why the gymnastics teacher’s phrase “Boys grab some balls to play football, and girls – some balls to play ‘apples’ (a type of children’s game)” seems so familiar to them. T

he gymnastics class at a typical general high school is turned into a battlefield centered on gender discrimination and stereotypes regarding sexual orientation. The class breaks apart when the students start investigating and questioning gender discriminations and the ways in which they are reproduced during the class. This process triggers an anxious internal conflict in all individuals involved – a conflict stemming from exploring the concepts of femininity and masculinity, challenging gender discrimination, and expanding the importance of gender identities.