Framer Framed

14 Aug 2025
18:00 - 20:00

Finding Our Legs: A WERQ Workout for THE TAIL

On 14 Aug, We Are Queer (WERQ) invites you to a workout inspired by the mermaid’s transformation, followed by a conversation on reclaiming sport as a trans and/or queer athlete. WERQ is Amsterdam’s first queer gym, especially for people who identify as LGBTQIA+, where binary preconceptions are kept outside and no outfit is too outrageous.

Reconnecting with sport as a queer and/or trans person often requires going against everything the world has told you. It involves unlearning and reclaiming not only space, but your body itself. Like the Little Mermaid, who gave up her voice and tail to walk among humans, transforming into your truest self can be painful ­– and often demands deep sacrifice. But what happens when you reclaim your voice and your body on your own terms?

This workout, given by kickboxing teacher and martial arts practitioner Pennie Key and WERQ coach Maes, is designed to make you feel the power of your legs, awakening strength that was already there. Through grounding squats, forward lunges, rising calf raises, wall sits and glute bridges, you move through exercises that mirror the mermaid’s journey from tail to legs ­– not as a loss, but as an expansion. Each rep becomes a celebration of the courage to inhabit your body fully and move through the world on your own terms, claiming space and power with every movement.

In the following community talk, organisers Maes and Run Lead Emmie invite the audience into a collective exploration of transformation through sport. Together, they dive into questions such as: what changes when sport is no longer a site of exclusion, but a space of inner strength, community and transformation? How can you rebuild relationships with sport, community and self in a world that often claims you do not belong?

Sign up here.

This workshop is part of the initiative to open up THE TAIL as a space for queer and trans communities to connect, create and share. Framer Framed welcomes proposals from collectives, artists and organisers who wish to host public or community-based events in the installation.

This event is in English. Admission is free.

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The event may be photographed and filmed. Kindly let us know in advance if you prefer not to have your picture taken.