On the Floor by Théophylle Dcx & Maria Silk

On the Floor marks the first collaboration between Théophylle Dcx and Maria Silk. In this duet, these two friends attempt to piece together traces of 70s and 80s queer San Francisco. Specifically, their project explores the legacies carried by dance music genres of the late 70s and 80s (especially disco and hi-NRG) in relation to the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The piece weaves together the links between nightlife, the virus, and queer memory, drawing on materials gathered throughout Dcx and Silk's research: interviews with DJs and clubgoers, Patrick Cowley's music and personal diaries, live recordings of Sylvester, practices like flagging and fan dancing, and ephemera from clubs like the I-Beam and the Trocadero Transfer. Working in relation to this archive, Dcx and Silk push themselves into altered states induced by dance, moving through an inner space of hedonism, exhaustion, escape, and discipline.