Clarissa Rêgo December 2021

I grew up in Brazil, a huge country, with a colonial past and an extremely unequal society. I guess this condition influences how the body gains visibility in my work, as well as the kind of forces and issues that run through it. At the same time, it is not necessary to be Brazilian to relate to the topics that my work addresses, because they are, essentially, human issues.

Creative processes are a very important part of working for me. I need to take time for developing my pieces, in order to get to know and relate to their elements as well as to deepen their nuances. For me a premiere doesn’t mean solving or finishing a piece: I keep studying it, polishing it and updating it, based on my meetings with the audiences.

The audience’s reception is constantly in my thoughts when I am creating a new piece. For me it is essential that my pieces are accessible to others, regardless previous experiences with the performing arts world. I work so that my pieces can touch, sensitize, provoke, move someone. I don’t wish to present a concept or teach something with my performances: I develop the dramaturgy of my creations making sure that there is always a „space“ where each spectator feels free to „move“ within the piece and make their own connections.

MORE INFO:
https://www.clarissarego.com

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Wednesday, 01.12.21

STARTING THE RESIDENCY

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Thursday, 02.12.21

SOLO STUDIES

SOLO STUDIES is a trilogy of dance solos in which I occupy, for the first time in my artistic career, after 20 years of working as a dancer, the position of choreographer.

The beginning of this project corresponds to my move from South America to Central Europe, a change that made me more sensitive and aware of issues related to identity, representativeness, belonging and memory.

Each solo has a body as its axis, an existence which is limited to a specific spatial condition and posture. From there, I investigate how slowness and endurance can affect and transform the situation not only of this body on stage, but also the body of each person present in the performative event.

The performances of SOLO STUDIES are BLOOM (2018), MAR (2020) and RISE (2022).

To take time, to be present, to look and listen keenly: perhaps this is the only way to relate to these performances; perhaps this is also the only way to better understand the world in which we live in.

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Sunday, 05.12.21

MAR

MAR is an invitation to slow down the gaze and sensitize the listening beyond known structures of comprehension. By embodying existences that have been historically denied or erased through dominant modes of representation, MAR evokes us to perceive life beyond the human, the tangible, the logical, the categorical and the bureaucratic. On stage, a body – one and many at the same time – on the verge of bursting, aiming to occupy the space that belongs to it. MAR is the announcement of an uprise.

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In the first 10 days of my residency at LAKE studios, I am working with Dani Paiva de Miranda on creating a light design for MAR, the second piece of the trilogy. This is also a way of strengthening the dramaturgical thread that connects the pieces of SOLO STUDIES, in addition to opening paths for the creation process of RISE, the last piece of this trilogy.

DANI PAIVA DE MIRANDA is a Brazilian performer and light designer. He had artistic training at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris and at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPAS) in London. For 10 years he performed at Slava’s Snowshow, taking part in various international tours, a period of great learning that inspired much of his artistic trajectory. Daniel is co-founder of CuntsCollective and has been working with Sita Ostheimer, ALLEN’S LINE company, directed by dancer-poet Julyen Hamilton, and LiNing – Physical Guerrilla. He is also a resident light designer at Dock 11 in Berlin. Daniel currently lives between Lisbon, Berlin and Copenhagen.

MORE INFO:
https://www.instagram.com/dpmirandadp/?hl=en
https://www.cuntscollective.com/

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Monday, 13.12.21

RISE

After 10 days of immersion in MAR, today I am starting the creation process of RISE, the piece that will close SOLO STUDIES trilogy. Actor and playwright Henrique Fontes (coming directly from Natal, Brazil!!!) is joining this creation process to work with me on bringing the word to the trilogy. Verbal and non-verbal language, as well as idiom and translation, will be some of the topics researched during the creation of this piece, focusing on deepening communication with audience members.

HENRIQUE FONTES is an actor, director and dramaturg based in Natal, northeast of Brazil. Undergrad in Social Communication and grad in Social Sciences, Henrique has been working in Theater and Dance since 1989. Through his Cultural Space Casa da Ribeira, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, Henrique has produced more than 40 productions for the stage. Henrique is the director of Grupo Carmin, created in 2007, and as a playwright he has written and staged 19 texts, including A INVENÇÃO DO NORDESTE, the most awarded Brazilian play in 2019 (16 nominations and 9 awards, including the Shell award for best dramaturgy). Internationally, Henrique was part of the Maine Masque Co. Company (Maine/USA), in 1998, and has maintained, since 2001, a partnership with the English playwright Ed Bailey (London/UK).

MORE INFO:
casadaribeira.com.br
grupocarmin.com.br