“What We Walk About When We Walkabout”

 

Dreaming Tracks | Nancy López Luna

Footprints | Elia Mrak

Circles | Silvia Oteri, Irene Occhiato, Magdalena Wojcik, Elia Mrak, Nancy López Luna

Directors: los porcupines | Nancy López Luna (MEX) & Elia Mrak (USA)

Composition and Live Music: Guilhem Verger

Duration: 45′

 

"Movement is in our nature; complete calm is death" – Bruce Chatwin (The Songlines)

 

 

 

INVESTIGATE. TEACH. CREATE.

 

 

Our project asks the question: how we can weave our contemporary artistic practice with ancient cultural practice? Physically, emotionally, spiritually. Individually, and in community. Dance in its fullest sense is to navigate and negotiate. We must navigate elements like gravity, the earth/floor,

and space around us. We also must negotiate people and nature, and our relationships with them. We are inspired by the aboriginals of Australia. Walking and running are elemental parts of their survival, and they have turned this into art. They are nomadic, and connect to the earth through their

feet. They walk following the rhythms of their feet. As they move, they call out elements of nature as they pass through, creating songs. They sing the world around them to life integrating movement and breath. They call it: “Songlines”. They trade these songs with their neighbors to negotiate land. Their culture is based on physicality and imagination, by navigating and negotiating, from their feet through their mouths. Our practice investigates our physicality and our breath. We practice Qigong, Flying Low, Breakdancing, Release, and the dramaturgy of the theater. To create our performance, we use breath, touch, floorwork, running, walking, rhythm and text. We are creating a performance that communicates the link between ancient culture and contemporary dance.

We picked this residency because we want to work with the dancers from Compagnia Zappalà Danza. This residency is focused on deepening and sharing our practice. We want to teach and train with a larger group. We will then rehearse with a smaller group (3­5 dancers) to create. This will include solos, duos, trios and group work. The final piece will be 5­7 performers. After the residency and initial performances, the project hopes to tour in Mexico, USA, Argentina and Europe, through festivals and co­productions with theaters and universities.