H.I.I.T. (High-Intensity Identity Training): Strategies of self-awareness in a world of consumption is an artistic research project which encompasses both an academic thesis and a solo dance performance. It began as artistic research in September 2018, during the Master Theatre Practices (MTP) studies at ArtEZ University of the Arts, in Arnhem, Netherlands. In June 2019, it took the form of an artistic installation (attached you will find a video link and description of this installation) and by May 2021, a 45’ solo dance performance should be created.

H.I.I.T. underlines the urgency to escape stereotypical preconceptions, by accepting the possibility of multiple selves inhabiting one body. As the body cannot be easily disentangled from identity, its image is constantly used by today’s consumer culture in order to construct identities which comply to the social and commercial expectations. The more the emphasis is on appearance and representation, the more the image of the human body which is promoted is that of a fit and healthy one. The more the outer appearance is considered a projection of the inner self, the more the fluid state of identity is compromised. With the advent of internet and virtual reality, the sense of belonging, of physically connecting to one another is often lost. Fitting into this consumer society model, might temporarily constitute a way to re-establish that sense. However, relations and unpredictable events constantly occur through and across time, which challenge human existence. When facing a traumatic event, the state of shock and perplexity that overwhelms is such that a need to find new identities, new shapes to embody the current state of precariousness is generated. In that liminal point, identities clash with the cultural consumer imagery.