This masterclass brings together the methodologies of drag and collective dance and movement. The event is organized by the minor program Gender and Sexuality in Society and Culture in collaboration with NOG, and engages with methodologies of embodied knowing and play. Together with Mx. Science (Saskia de Wildt), and the Swarm movement (Floor van Leeuwen, Sylvie de Kubber, and Nataly Ba), this masterclass aims to rethink modes of knowledge production in academia.
Recent years saw growing attacks on the right to protest, as well as renewed struggles of the universities to defend academic freedom against both corporate and governmental interests meddling in what it means to practice academic freedom. Responding to these developments and to the process of knowledge production in general, this masterclass urges us to think about the research methodologies we choose to be able to practice critical thinking, and invites us to start with the body.
In this masterclass we will experiment with what it means to know collectively, to know through the body, and to know and resist through play and movement. Both Mx. Science and Swarm weave together the street and the nightclub, and a sense of collectivity through a politics of the body. Through a performative lecture, collective movement, and critical reflection and conversation between Mx. Science and Swarm, the masterclass addresses these topics through different angles.
Be prepared to bring your curiosity and willingness to experiment, as both Mx. Science and Swarm invite you to join in their methodologies of resistance.
What you can expect
Mx. Science
Step into a space where lectures mingle with drag, sensory immersion and playful interaction. In a performative lecture, guided by “Mx. Science”, we will immerse into the undercurrent of research – the monstrous, the mythic, the hidden, and the liminal. Where our bodies meet for play and pleasure, and where collective care builds space for hospitable encounters across differences.
SWARM
Swarm is based on the movement principles of swarms. In a swarm the collective decides when, how and where movement goes. Power is decentralized, so to speak. In organized SWARMS, participants dance through the streets with handheld speakers, creating an open group allowing passersby to spontaneously participate. With this, Swarmers are inspired to collectively explore the body as a medium of ‘queering’ public space.
During this event we will participate in a SWARM rehearsal, and provide space to reflect on the possibilities opened by collective movement as research methodology and resistance.
Biographies:
Mx. Science
Saskia de Wildt is a transdisciplinary creative and researcher. They hold a PhD in Environmental Studies (Queen’s University, Canada) and an MSc in International Development (University Amsterdam, the Netherlands). They are also a co-founding member and drag-sibling within the House of Lostbois, the first and biggest Dragking House, connected to Club Church, in Amsterdam. Their practice intersects feminist and creative methods like collaging, zinemaking, participatory filmmaking and drag, with (auto-)ethnographic documentation. They are interested in questions of positionality and epistemic justice, whose knowledge and practices count, as we find our collective ways through an ecological polycrisis? Saskia de Wildt is currently a research fellow at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany, where by day they research the transformational im/possibilities of queer shapeshifting and worldbuilding for transdisciplinary and transcultural ethics in environmental sciences – and by night they can be found performing on stages across the Netherlands and Berlin.
Swarm
Floor van Leeuwen is a mimographer, researcher and director of Swarm Movement Foundation, where they co-created and developed Swarm. They was a fellow of ETH Zurich D-Arch and end-director of various theater makers.
Sylvie de Kubber is a humanistic chaplain in psychiatry at Antes Poortugaal with a focus on addiction care, palliative care, interfaith dialogue and art-based interventions. Additionally, Sylvie teaches at the University of Humanistic Studies.
Nataly Ba is a global health researcher interested in transdisciplinary, reflexively aware, feminist research. She has worked on various projects in DEI, mental health in Zambia, and gender equality.
Nataly, Sylvie and Floor are currently collaborating on a PHD involving understanding and further developing the impact of Swarm in mental health care. Based on the Swarms at Antes Poortugaal, they advocate for embodied decentralised participatory practises that foster joy and connection.
Details
Date & Time: December 2, 2025, 17:00 – 19:00
Location: Kamerlingh Onnesgebouw A1.44, Steenschuur 25, Leiden (Leiden University)
Organisation: Maaike Hommes (m.a.hommes@hum.leidenuniv.nl), Looi van Kessel (l.van.kessel@hum.leidenuniv.nl) & Liesbeth Minnaard (e.minnaard@hum.leidenuniv.nl)
ECTS: 1 or 2 ECTS (1 for attendance, 2 for completing a written assignment. You will receive further information on the assignment ahead of the masterclass)
Registration: Please send an email to nog@uu.nl with as a subject line ‘registration masterclass Mx Science X SWARM’. Specify the amount of ECTS you aim to receive.
**the reading for this masterclass will be announced shortly**
