Some images from the city.

The most attractive couple of Tacna ..

View on Teatro Municipal and the Peruvian flag from dressing room in Teatro Orfeon:

Other view from dressing room:

Patio of Teatro Orfeon, somehow one of my favorite places to sit in..

Behind Tacna- the way to Arica (Chile)...

Suddenly, I realized, I am indeed in the dessert...

Some images from rehearsals- Alice

Essence of things...

Yes, I agree with my friend, that when one goes away finds the essence of things...
Sometime the price for it is a vulnerable emotional state...

I am looking forward to walk down into the deepest canyon in the world, Cotahuasi, here, near Arequipa...
I dream the essence of my things lies somewhere in between there...

am I right?

-
skądkolwiek, dokądkolwiek
aż do skrzyżowania,
gdzie sie zbiegają,
żeby sie rozbiegnąć
twoje nadzieje, pomyłki, porażki,
próby, zamiary i nowe nadzieje.

Droga za droga
ale bez odwrotu
dostępne tylko to,
co masz przed sobą,
a tam, jak na pociechę,
zakręt za zakrętem,
zdumienie za zdumieniem,
za widokiem widok.
Możesz wybierać
gdzie być albo nie być,
przeskoczyć, zboczyć,
byle nie przeoczyć.

(fragment "Labirynt" by Wislawa Szymborksa)

And how did it go...?

"Fronteras" and "Alice baila", the first ever contemporary dance experiment by Deciertopicante. The 3 videos are available here

We made something for the first time in Tacna and the audience was confronted with unknown art form. They were unsure how to "understand" it and what it is all about. They were confused how to enjoy it. They clapped but left the theater quickly. Their experience disappeared as if absorbed into a black whole with no response, no dialogue... I think, what the public needs, is to open up a bit more and to drop from the level of "understanding" to the level of sensing.

Listen to the interview with Lucho Montenegro and me in Radio Tacna after the shows.
(Spanish speaking.)

Important rehearsal and discovers with Alice:

Roberto took over the general direction of "Alice baila"; my role is to continue with the development and polishing of the choreography as well taking care for the spacial composition of the play. On this last rehearsal, the group worked on characterization of their personages based on and using the choreography and individual movement material developed in my workshop.
I haven't seem them on such a high level before and I was wondering what's the matter. Is it because Roberto yells and demands more on them than me? Or is it because they came back to the text of the play, means, something they know very well, can rely on and feel confident about... so feel more free to explore. We discussed it and everybody agreed that it is thanks to the dance workshop they achieved new level of plasticity and more physical awareness. The doubts or lack of confidence in our previous “dance” rehearsals was caused by the insecurity of using abstract, new language of contemporary dance. Now, after the public show of work-in-progress, which went good and brought us to next level, they open up and with trust, as well with clearer vision or feeling about dance-theater gender, they are eager to engage deeper.
One more observation: yesterday by chance, we had no music/no cd to practice with. I notice, not for the first time, that the music or its lack, plays intense role in the rehearsals. As part of the exploration, I tend to practice or improvise without music, because I see then the body becomes more vulnerable, more “naked”. There is no music-element to hide behind or to lean on, it is purely the body and its connection with the space as main impulse to move.
However, then it comes the moment music is complementary and inspiring, of course!

Yesterday without the music they reached this interesting level of pure physicality to deal with...

I think , that the serious talk that Roberto had with them last Tuesday, also helped to find this new engagement. This group of aprendices is forming 3rd generation of actors of Deciertopicante. The process of creation of “Alice" is a natural filter for those, who really want to dedicate themselves to theater within perspective of becoming professionals in the future perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Patio and the Plant

A short impression about another passing day... Patio of Teatro Orfeon.
Staring: The Plant and Margarita

Interview in Radio Tacna

I am updating radio interviews, where we talked about our projects. The first is by Jose Giglio in Radio Tacna, just after my arrival to Tacna, in begging of April. Spanish speaking!
(A link to other page will be open, so click play on the little gray bar)




Summary:

I talk about the reason and way how do I get to Tacna and about the grant from Instytut Adama Mickiewicza for my artistic research here. Roberto and I present the plan for my placement here- workshops and the production, which be premiered half August. The first subject to discuss is the need to change stereotypes, about the presence of man in dance. The parents here and in South America, while mentioning ballet for a boy react- no! my son has to be A MAN. I share, that this thought is still present as well in my culture in Poland, unlike Netherlands, where to be a male-dancer is an advantage to find good work. Further, Jose asks about the costumes used in contemporary dance and if it is possible to incorporate typical clothing from this zone for a performance. We talk about the message of a contemporary dance performance and that it is not necessary to look for narration or a story, yet the emotional states are the ones to communicate. We wonder if improvisation is a new concept or new practice and how art can play role in the sustainable development. Jose tells the story of Teatro Orfeon, which used to play important role in the years of Chilean occupation of Tacna (49 years). The theater kept reach culture activity as form of resistance to the foreign regime. In the end they discuss the current national budget for 2008 and the unfortunate situation that even 1% of it is not directed to culture.

All adventures...

"All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary." — Sally Ride

"No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time; it is just that others are behind the times." — Martha Graham

From Alicja&Andrzej.
Dziękuję!