ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

Repetition Compulsion is a new performance by Jules Fischer, commissioned by TOASTER for the biennale. The work forms the second part of a trilogy of performances.

In the first chapter, Lesions (2024), we encounter a woman trapped within a scene shaped by a single moving spotlight, a pre-recorded monologue, and her desire to maintain her self-image.

The second performance, Repetition Compulsion, unfolds as a duet. The title refers to a term coined by Sigmund Freud, describing the unconscious drive to reenact traumatic relationships and relational dynamics repeatedly.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jules Fischer (DK) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2017 and has also studied dance and choreography at the Danish National School of Performing Arts, as well as Art and Social Practice at Portland State University. Their practice focuses on collage-like, large-scale performance works. Jules is interested in fundamental emotions such as love, grief, and loneliness, explored from an ambivalent and queer perspective. In collaboration with talents from diverse disciplines, Jules has created works for institutions such as Glyptoteket, SMK, and Arken. In 2023, they were awarded a three-year working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation.

TOASTER PERFORMANCE BIENNALE

In April 2026, Toaster presents Denmark’s first international performance biennale, taking place across Den Frie and Husets Teater.

The biennale offers a current portrait of the performance field within both visual art and performing arts – and the many intersections between them – which are rapidly evolving nationally as well as internationally. The focus is state of the art: taking the temperature of the field right now.

Experience more than 20 performances, including 10 entirely new works created specifically for the biennial. The artists range from established performance practitioners to emerging talents – sometimes within the same work.

The programme encompasses works rooted in dance, text, costume, sound, light, music, and space. Performance is here and now – it is the time we live in, and the time we choose to spend together.