Finnish artist Eevi Tolvanen travels to Cyprus to present a performance-workshop part of the On Bodies Festival 2026 at Dancehouse Lefkosia this May. Titled ‘tender’, the workshop is addressed to queer and trans people where they can explore tenderness as something complex, powerful and deeply human. Going beyond the softness that is typically associated with ‘tenderness’, the workshop explores how it can also be fierce, messy, erotic and full of contradiction.

Tolvanen is a non-binary, queer community artist, performer and choreographer who dreams of worlds where community, redistribution of power and intergenerational care can unfold. Their work draws from long-standing community engagement, shaping spaces where dance becomes a force for change and connection. In Cyprus, they will meet with local participants over multiple days, from May 9 to 13 in Nicosia.

“This is a space to be with your own community,” say organisers. “A space for peer support, care and connection, where you don’t have to explain yourself, and where different experiences can exist side by side.

“We work through movement, performance art, voice and conversation. You don’t need any experience with dance or performance. We listen to what is already present in the body – shaking, holding, resisting, reaching. What happens when we stay with that sensation a little longer? When we are witnessed in it? When we witness others?”

No prior experience in dance or performance is required as participants are invited to come as they are, with openness and curiosity. The workshop is connected to the performance hellänä – tender, directed by Eevi Tolvanen, and grows from the Queer Generations project, which centres queer and trans lived histories, intergenerational connection, and care as something personal, political and collective.

Together, the artists and the participants will explore different states of tenderness: a body carrying grief, a body in intensity, a body softening in closeness. The workshop ends with a performance and a party at the On Bodies Festival, to gather, share and celebrate.

Tender

Performance and workshop for queer and trans people by Finnish artist Eevi Tolvanen. Part of the On Bodies Festival 2026. May 9-13. Dancehouse Lefkosia, Nicosia. Saturday-Sunday: 10am-2pm. Monday-Wednesday: 6pm-8.30pm. Free. Registration required. https://forms.gle/nXiQ34CBownMyATXA