PRIVATE

PRIVATE investigates intimacy as a practice of staying — staying in contact, in trust, in conflict, in research, and in uncertainty. As romantic partners and artistic collaborators, Lorenzo Ponteprimo and Sade Mamedova turn their relationship into a space of inquiry, exposing their shared microcosm to examine how love and fear intertwine. At the heart of the project lies a study of honesty within relationships: how our ideas of love interact with inherited patterns and unspoken expectations, and how these coexist with the desire to remain truthful and open. What role does the fear of rejection play when revealing aspects of ourselves that might disrupt a delicate balance? Our duet explores intimacy as an act of remaining — in a time when connection often fractures under pressure. We ask what it means to stay: to listen, to negotiate, to release, and to grow together. Through a physical language of pulling, holding, squeezing, and releasing, combined with acting and sound, the work creates a space where love becomes an act of mutual construction, a shared practice of togetherness traversing the instinctual and the sublime. PRIVATE exposes relational dynamics with radical transparency, oscillating between tenderness and provocation. The performance investigates the fragile balance between closeness and autonomy, desire and self-preservation. It explores how individuals navigate vulnerability and risk — both within intimate relationships and as reflections of broader social dynamics. What does it mean to remain present when discomfort, doubt, or disappointment enters the room? What are we truly afraid of when we expose our desires?