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Review: Danza Contemporánea de Cuba - Como No & Dance Consortium - Barbican

23/2/2017

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Performance reviewed for londondance.com: 23rd February 2017, Barbican

I remember where I was when I first saw Danza Contemporánea de Cuba perform George Céspedes’ Matrio Etnocentra. I was sat at the front of the upper circle in Teatro Mella in Vedado, Havana. I was six months pregnant and my partner was wandering excitedly around with a camera. After the performance we agreed we had to see it again and rearranged our plans to see cabaret the next day. It was the right decision.

On Thursday evening at the Barbican, while my eighteen month old was safely tucked asleep at home, I watched Matrio Etnocentra for the third time and was there to witness the reaction of an audience who didn’t quite realise what they were getting for their money.

Annabelle Ochoa’s opening gift to this programme was a sensual piece showing tribalistic mating rituals as the dancers display to potential partners. There is an interesting use of sound in this piece, which further adds to the sensuous appeal of the dance. The clever choreography makes full use of the incredible physiques of the dancers as well their infinite energy. The dancers of both genders show equal strength and energy in the way that they tease each other. It is work that I feel I need to see again to completely appreciate.

The variation in the triple bill programme allows us to witness not only the incredible physical skills of the performers, but the versatility of performers who appear to relish the challenge of a more experimental dance piece. Theo Clinkard’s The Listening Room involves the dancers dancing to music on their headphones while the audience are provided with a score of Steve Reich’s Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. This dislocation between the environments of the performers and the audience, is bridged by the charisma of performers whose personalities were allowed to come to life within the freedom of the structure of the piece.

The casual appearance of the dancers sitting crossed legged in the wings and dancing in coloured shorts and t-shirts with their mp3 players and headphones round their neck offered stark contrast to the tribalism of Annabelle Ochoa’s Reversible and the military precision of Matrio Etnocentra. This break in the intensity of the rest of the programme would have benefitted from being shorter in length so that the concept does not tire before the end. I did feel a sense of pride that it was this British piece that took real risks with what this company of precision specialists could do on stage.

In the 19 months since I last watched Matrio Etnocentra both Cuba and Danza Contemporánea de Cuba had undergone some significant changes that only serve to make the work more poignant. The death of Castro in November last year had seemed like such a symbolic moment in Cuba’s history that can’t help but impact on the re-watching of a piece about the uniformity of communism and loss of personal liberty for the benefit of the whole. The arrival of Acosta Danza in 2016 had snapped up a significant amount of this company’s dancers and forced a new intake of dance school graduates. The piece plays to the strengths of these dancers who have all been subject to the most rigorous Cuban dance education. Throughout Matrio Etnocentra the facial expressions of the dancers show such commitment to the vision of the piece, that it is completely captivating. When the dancers change to their coloured tunics and dance in a looser salsa style we get a glimpse of a Cuba finding its feet as it moves into the future. I hope that this piece stays in the company’s repertoire for many years as it is a masterclass in precise synchronised movement and it goes to the heart of what it means to be Cuban.

Reversible choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
The Listening Room choreographed by Theo Clinkard
Matria Etnocentra choreographed by George Cespedes



Rhiannon Brace is a physical theatre practitioner and choreographer with a specific interest in Cuban dance. Find her on Twitter:@Rhiannonbrace. www.rhiannonbrace.com

About Danza Contemporánea de Cuba (DCC)

About Danza Contemporánea de Cuba (DCC) – Directed by Miguel Iglesias, DCC was founded in 1959 by Ramiro Guerra under the name of Conjunto de Danza Moderna, created from the National Theater’s dance department. In 1962 it was renamed Conjunto Nacional de Danza Moderna, became Danza Nacional de Cuba in 1974 and Danza Contemporánea de Cuba in 1987. As Cuba’s flag-ship contemporary dance company, the most prominent figures of the Cuban dance scene have started their illustrious careers with DCC. Whilst maintaining all the principles of its founder Ramiro Guerra, compelling and ground-breaking projects continue to thrive. This allows the company to remain open to developments in dance, without forgetting its heritage.


The company’s unique style is routed in the principles of Cuban modern dance technique and harmoniously blends with a mix of black and white cultural heritage influenced by Cuba’s African and Spanish ancestors, African-Caribbean rhythms, jazzy American modernism and classical European ballet.



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Interview: Theo Clinkard Q&A

23/2/2017

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Thursday 23 February 2017 by Rhiannon Brace originally for londondance.com

On Thursday evening Danza Contemporánea De Cuba make their Barbican debut with a triple bill of work by leading international choreographers including the company’s own George Céspedes, Olivier award winner Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and the UK’s Theo Clinkard. Clinkard’s The Listening Room premiered in Havana’s Gran Teatro Alicia Alonso in May 2016 and received rave reviews. It is an experimental piece in which the dancers respond to the music they hear in their headphones while the audience listen to an alternative score. Ahead of Thursday’s performance we caught up with Theo Clinkard to ask him about creating this piece with this incredible company.



How did your collaboration with Danza Contemporánea De Cuba come about?

In the summer of 2015 I met with the Managing Director of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba and the British Council Dance Department about the opportunity of teaching and making a dance piece with the company as part of the Islas Creativas (Creative Islands) initiative. I was selected for the job and in May 2016 I went to Cuba to work with the company for three weeks. I spent one week teaching workshops and I had just two weeks to make a half hour piece.

What were your impressions of Cuba?

Cuba blew my mind! It is an incredible place. It is insanely beautiful. We lived in a suburb of Havana in a residential neighbourhood. Working in Havana was such a different experience from being a tourist. What was really striking is the spirit of the Cuban people. They are such open, loving, warm, tender and dynamic people. When you walk into the studio every dancer kisses every person in the room. What a way to start! But you soon learn that this Cuban spirit is not confined to the studio, it is a cultural thing.


How would you describe Danza Contemporánea de Cuba? What are they like to work with?

When I began working with them, 10 dancers had just left to go to Carlos Acosta’s new company and 10 new dancers were brought in straight from dance school. These dancers were young with such a rigorous training behind them but they were completely open and hungry for new information. I went into the studio with playful tasks and improvisation and I gave them permission to move how they want to move and for them to write the piece as they dance it. This is an unusual way for these dancers to work because I didn’t go into the studio to teach them steps but they flew with it because dance is so deep in their bones.


What do you think it is about Cuba that produces such talented dancers?

Cuba is such a sheltered island that it has had to develop its own identity and culture. The children play out on the street with the parents sat on a step and there is music everywhere. This is balanced with their rigorous physical training. It provides a brilliant combination, which is a pleasure to work with.


Can you tell me about The Listening Room? What were your ideas behind this piece?

I had such a short space of time that I had to come up with a strategy to work quickly. I usually work alongside a musician but this time I selected a recording of Steve Reich’s Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings to form the score of the piece. Normally dance serves the music but I wanted to create a dance that could have its own weight and emphasis. I took 20 MP3 players and headphones to Cuba. I wanted to create a disconnect between the sound and movement of the piece. In the performance, the dancers get to dance to the music on their headphones. The audience, however, listen to a separate piece of music. It creates a situation where the audience have to figure something out rather than being completely provided for as there is this sonic wall between the audience and the dancers.


I had a cast of dancers that know their form and create phenomenal shapes and I was interested in what happens if I put the emphasis on the sound and rhythm because then they don’t have to present their bodies to us. Whatever those dancers do will create interesting shapes so I didn’t want to create imagery with bodies but instead create sound as imagery. The work has a freedom to it and each time I watch it, it is different.


Are there ideas or concepts that you return to a lot in your work? What makes your work distinctive?

I like to create work where the dancers are not replaceable but rather it celebrates their diversity and explores what makes us different. My role of the choreographer is therefore as a host introducing the audience to the dancers and allowing the audience to really get to know them. I trust that my own personal style and signature will come through in what the dancers do on stage but I am not seeking to demonstrate my voice.


I am interested in exploring empathy through dance. The reason why I am making a particular piece of work is because I am trying to find the human connection. Everyone has dance inside themselves and therefore a connection to dancing. I want the audience to connect with what they see on stage and not just with what impresses the eye.
I am not looking for through lines any more in my work. This is what makes it different to dance theatre. It may not have a literal meaning or anything that needs to be explained.


What things help you create or develop new works? Do you have a favourite space, or routine that percolates ideas?

Once I am in the studio I have some basic things that I do to see how the dancers respond. I set tasks and improvisations but I don’t come in and push people in a physical sense. What is important is that they are present in what they are doing but it is not a hard physical graft. In fact, it is the presence of the performers in the piece that I choreograph.


What else is next for you this year?

In May my new full-length production This Bright Field premieres at the Brighton Festival at the Brighton Dome. Brighton Festival and Dome have invited me to become an Associate Artist and have co-commissioned the new show. It is made for 12 dancers and will be touring the UK in October.


If The Listening Room is about listening then This Bright Field is about looking and perception. In the first part of the show half of the audience join the performers on stage where they get to view the performers intimately. There are rooms and corridors on the stage where they may experience private dances. In the second part the audience watch the performers from the auditorium at more of a distance. I am interested in how the eye understands the movement differently having connected more personally with the performers.


What are the challenges of finding the time and space to create new pieces of work for your own company when you are so busy?

It is really hard balancing everything. The administration especially is such a challenge. I spend so much time booking trains and hotels – it is endless! We don’t talk about how much paperwork is involved in running a company. I have a pile of books waiting to be read. I am always trying to find time to read books.


When did you decide you wanted to dance professionally?

It was always clear that that was what I wanted to do. I always danced from waving bits of fabric round dancing to Kate Bush to starting classes aged 6, once a week, locally in Cornwall. I later went to Elmhurst Ballet School. I was offered a place in Royal Ballet Upper School but after a couple of classes I realised that this wasn’t at all for me so instead I went to the Rambert School where I felt I could be myself. My first professional job was in Matthew Bourne’s The Nutcracker.


What has been the stand out moment in your career to date?

Choreographing ‘Somewhat still when seen from above’ in September 2015 for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch was a massive moment. It is a shame it didn’t tour. Stepping into the studio with my company of 12 dancers, to make a new work was another one and I am also hoping that Thursday evening at the Barbican will be another.


What piece of advice would you give to dancers or choreographers beginning their journey?

It is import to recognise that it is not just about what you do in a studio but about how you engage yourself and what you do with your time. The dancers I work with are all artists in their own right and engage in the dance and the arts independently from me. They have curiosity of the art form and also engage politically and socially. If you are not able to meet people or engage with your peers you can’t expect to have things handed to you.


The practice of empathy is also important in the way that I engage and talk to people because it is what makes us human.
Danza Contemporánea de Cuba
Barbican 23 February
www.barbican.org.uk
Tickets from £16

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    Work:  The Promised Land (2018), Mr President (2018), Voodoo Child (2017), The Last Dance on Earth (2016), Baby (2016), The Legacy (2014) and She Walks in Beauty (2011). Performance maker and teacher.
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