From December 1-9, choreographer Sandra Paola López Ramírez was in residence with Dance Entropy to work on the second phase of Valerie Green’s international collaborative “HOME” project. Here, she describes what home means to her:
Home is a feeling, a sense, something deep, visceral. Its definition is so personal yet so easily graspable by many. An experience that can resonate with thousands, yet only one that YOU have. Algo tan ordinario y a su vez, único. Sharing that with others in a short amount of time proved more challenging that I thought. How do you condense a lifetime of cultural experience into one week? It is simple: you can’t.
My understanding of home goes far beyond what a particular step or movement sequence can communicate. It is a vibration, a felt sense that permeates and fills the entire body. The dance can only be a vehicle that points to that experience. So, what could we do? Only to work with what we had. For eight days I offered and received only what was possible to create together. It was all that we could do and all that was important. I didn’t need anything else.
Working with the dancers, Erin, Hana, Kristin and Fumi, was a joyous experience. More than accomplished and competent dance professionals, they are incredibly generous individuals in the creative process. Giving at every moment what they had to offer: their attention, focus, diligence, skill, body, mind and spirit. What a wonderful pallet for any maker to have.
During this intensive rehearsal period I learned that what home means to me can’t be translated to other bodies in a week. But we can get darn close, and we did.
