"despite, because" is a dance about what it feels like to stay too long (physically, emotionally, or mentally) when something has already started to shift.  The piece asks the audience to sit with stillness, watching bodies hold quiet poses that stretch time and create a sense of waiting, before slowly turning into repeated gestures and patterns influenced by the act of staying. These moments of suspension give way to fast, sudden dynamic changes, where repetition becomes both grounding and unsettling. Inspired by techno music and club culture, the work plays with rhythm, endurance, and momentum, capturing how time can feel elongated and rushed all at once. Through this contrast, "despite, because" explores the tension of remaining present despite knowing it might be time to move on and staying anyway because the energy, habit, or feeling hasn’t yet released its hold.