Athens, 3 of April 2023
Eleven days in Ioannina, Greece
Tempo Rubato – Artistic Residency
It is interesting that sometimes things closest to you reappear before your eyes when you meet them again through a shared journey, and by introducing them – meaning, sharing them – to others. I used to live in Ioannina for six years for my medicine studies and since then no year has passed by that I didn’t visit the city.
But it is not the location that creates a familiar and loved place but, rather, the people. Creating places – meaning communions – love, exchange, the feeling of family and belonging, is a quality of Aristea, the director of the professional dance school where I ‘ve been working since its foundation.
Of course I knew that, but I was amazed that during this short residency with Alex and Rocio they felt it too… they saw it, they smelled it. I really believe that this realisation inspired us further to both continue our project and collaboration, and to stay loyal to our principles that apply beyond a merchandised and aesthete art, beyond the so called superior value of a performance as product, but towards a faith and mutuality of the procedures, of the community, of the enrichment through the balance that is provided by listening and suggesting.
The bond that I feel with Alex goes beyond the time spent together or the actual time we know each other. Something feels familiar and comfortable but not self-evident. The trust Alex shares is liberating and creates a safe place where you can be yourself and speak your mind and be confident to join or to “rebel” by proposing something else. And I truly believe that this is the meaning of our work/piece also, and the core of the journey we shared with the students. How to listen and join, but also how to accept your individuality and singularity, embrace your presence and the shared space with others.
During the ten days of our residency, we shared with the students our way of seeing dance, movement, presence, and life. The fact that dance, and art in general, is not something beautiful to put in a sacred space outside the realness of everydayness, but it is nourished by its poetics and is part of the world, social and political. Our bodies are carriers of the self, of history, of political views, of memory and tastes, but also means of participation, collaboration, fight and struggles.
The most difficult thing was to persuade the students to leave the shapes and the technique behind, undress themselves from the system of education and be present and confident about their choices.
Here and now, time gets suspended, becoming a universe of moments, experiences and meanings… A journey about a piece is opening the doors to an endeavour about existence, friendship and togetherness.
