Brandon LaBelle and Giada Dalla Bontà invite a critical conversation on dancehall politics through video performance, reading prompt, and open discussion. LaBelle’s film Deaf Script (2022) positions dance as a language beyond words: Dance a form of speaking…

I want to deepen the break between words
I want to give body to the rhythms
To amplify the noise
To stay with the murmur

Offering a glimpse into a world where deaf dance cultures reclaim a form of listening and communication that honors diverse sensory experiences and challenges conventional modes of communication, the film probes how embodied sound can forge an inclusive, attentive space—an acoustic care that ensures every voice, no matter how subtle, is genuinely heard.

Giada Dalla Bontà extends these reflections to the popular dance realms of clubs and rave scenes—spaces hailed as playgrounds of sonic agency yet increasingly confronted with the same hierarchies they purport to escape. What makes these spaces truly inclusive from a non-normative perspective, and how? When does their proclaimed ethics of solidarity translate into a sustained commitment to acoustic justice, and when does it simply fulfill a brief, hedonistic outpouring? Drawing on the critical insights of Terre Thaemliz, McKenzie Wark, Mark Fisher, and Hubert Adjei-Kontoh, the discussion examines the paradoxes of contemporary dance culture—where solidarity risks being overshadowed by narcotised narcissism, commodified radical posturing, and performative allyship that barely last beyond the night. How does our contemporary approach to dance culture cultivate corporeal intimacy, affect, and connection, and when does it simply justify hedonistic superficiality hearing only the loudest voices?

Together, LaBelle and Dalla Bontà invite you to discuss whether the vibrational, corporeal experience of dance can teach us alternative modes of receptivity, tuning in, and caring that transcend fleeting moments on the dancefloor and how differently abled experiences can teach us alternative ways of listening and communicating every day.What remains after the rave—what lasting capacity for genuine listening and connectivity do you bring back to your daily life? What do you keep after the rave, beyond your long afternight?

Over the weekend, Page Not Found will be screening LaBelle’s films Deaf Script (2022), and Ghost Party (2024).