choreography
La Ribot
We talk to dancer, choreographer, and visual artist La Ribot about key moments in her childhood, the collective creation and delirium of Bocanada Danza, Festival Desviaciones, the UVI group and the subsequent financial and emotional crisis that drove her from London in the nineties, and her encounter with the performing arts boom. She talks to us from the breathing room she has gained with her new centre for dance and teaching in Switzerland. In the midst of comings and goings, we discover moments that allow us to flesh out and strip back the diva, from her childhood wish to be a gypsy and the lasting impression of a little girl’s fascination on seeing a bullfight on TV, to her found object fetishes, the camera-operator, and a (perhaps dreamt) falling out with Joan Brossa.
Juan Domínguez
A key figure in the field of live arts, Juan Domínguez describes himself as “a conceptual clown, magical cowboy, model-poet, and curator of pleasure.” His artistic body of work is situated both in and out of choreography, and champions excess as well as measure. In any case, he never loses sight of the question that guides his practice: “What shall we do together in this present moment to construct reality?”
We talk at length with Juan Domínguez about changing the parameters of live arts, putting a frame on reality, the complexities of participation and co-authorship, and Juan’s efforts to tense time and grow older with his projects and audiences. We also talk about his (admiring) envy of TV series, about robberies, about necessary and supporting co-conspirators, about the body and politics, and about discipline and chaos.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of our conversation with choreographer and performer Alma Söderberg that we were unable to include the first time around. Alma discusses her influences, teachers and schools and two collective projects of different sorts: Manyone and John The Houseband.
Alma Söderberg
Alma Söderberg is a choreographer and performer who works with music and dance. As well as exploring close listening, Alma listens to rhythm and movement, in order to inhabit polyrythm and "simultaneous difference", to quote Eric Davis by way of Alma. In this podcast, Alma tells us about the many musical influences that inspire her choreographic practice: jazz, flamenco, hip hop, and experimental and Afro-American music. She also talks about multiplicity, reduced listening and deep listening, about letting rhythm run through you, about the voice, sharing, idiorhythms, Anni Albers, weaving, learning to wait, and about playing.
Boris Charmatz
Dance interpreter, choreographer, thinker, writer, teacher and curator Boris Charmatz reflects on how to address power structures within the artistic field. He also talks about polisemy, collectivity, communities and anti-communities, radical pedagogy, dissent, the Musée de la danse, the complex and inexhaustible relationship between dance and history, working inside gestures, and the beauty of older people skateboarding.