Co-production with Julio Mario Santo Domingo Theater
Name: IRA. Triptych
Choreographers: Laisvie Andrea Ochoa, Diana León y Valerie Green.
Dancers: David Bernal, Christian Briceño, Hilse León, Lorena Lozano, Mateo Mejía y Laura Toro.
Sound design: René Moreno.
Costume design: Rafael Arévalo
Scenography and lights design: Luis David Cáceres
Documentary and photos: Camila Malaver.
Director of the company: Laisvie Andrea Ochoa.
Special thanks to: Students of La Universidad Javeriana, Sandra Paola López, La Otra, Teatro El Parque and Danza Común.
Co-production: ConCuerpos, Teatro Julio Mario Santo Domingo and Agraf.
ABOUT THE WORK
IRA is a dance work in the form of a triptych that addresses the issue of anger as a feeling that arises in the face of injustice, and that has the potential to generate individual and collective change. Three choreographers, two nationals and one international present their own perspective on the subject, working collaboratively with dancers with and without disabilities from ConCuerpos. Although the work consists of three pieces, it contains transversal elements such as original music, art design, and an artistic language based on the notion of Universal Accessibility.
In the first part, choreographer Diana León, artistic director of ConCuerpos, presents the different expressions of anger in the unique corporalities of each dancer, investigating how to transform these states into choreographic movement. Diana understands anger as a motor source, as an explosion that finally allows a rebirth. Where do the different expressions of anger live in the body? What states or qualities of movement does it provoke? How to maintain a physicality based on anger? How is the interaction between bodies when they are in such a state?
Guest choreographer Valerie Green (USA) directed a duet for ConCuerpos as the second part of the triptych. Her starting point was to investigate anger from the perspective of subjectivity. Using autobiographical methods, she delved deeper to find where this feeling lives in the dancers’ bodies, does it have a voice? how do you define it? Where does it come from and how is it transformed? Ultimately, her process sought to have an effect of transformation, understanding, and release of the energy of anger contained in each performer. In the end, anger is transformed into beauty.
The third part of the work was directed by Laisvie Andrea Ochoa, director of ConCuerpos, who took this opportunity to investigate the place of anger in the sentimental configuration of Colombian identity. The starting point is the event known as El Bogotazo (April 9, 1948), where collective anger spread throughout the country, becoming a milestone in the history of Colombia. She was promptly inspired by the photos of Sady González and by the Nacional Radio broadcast that was taken by the people on that day. The visual input becomes space, and the audio input becomes movement. In her part, the relationship between dance and Sign Language is deepened, enhancing its kinetic characteristic into choreographic terms. Is the fire of claiming for social justice still burning in our skin? What can we learn by narrating with our bodies this eruption of collective violence to help the progression of grassroots movements?
Our commitment to inclusion is not only reflected by working with artists with and without disabilities but also by opening the work to a diverse audience.
Aesthetics of Access
One of the most important aspects of the work is that it was created under the notion of Universal Accessibility. This means that we integrated elements such as subtitles, audio description, and Sign Language within the dramaturgy of the work. Our interest is to use these tools as means of expression that constitutes our language as an inclusive dance company. Thus, our commitment to breaking down barriers to participation in the performing arts is not only reflected by working with artists with and without disabilities, but also in opening up to a diverse audience.
Photos part 1 by Diana León:
Photos part 2 by Valerie Green:
Photos part 3 by Laisvie Ochoa:
ABOUTH THE CREATION PROCESS
Working from February to August 2021
Docuseries
Video artist Camila Malaver followed the creation process creating a sensitive documentary of 5 chapters:
Documentation
Using the Research Catalogue, an international database for artistic research, we documented the process including written text, photos, sounds, videos, and drawings. For now only in Spanish.
3 female creators
Valerie Green
Choreographer, dancer and dance teacher. Director of Dance Entropy from New York, USA.
ABOUT VALERIE GREEN/DANCE ENTROPY
Founded in 1998, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy believes in humanizing movement, both in Ms. Green’s critically acclaimed choreographic work and the company’s mission to plant creative seeds in communities across the world. Intersecting mortal and transcendent, sensual and sophisticated, visceral and self-aware, VG/DE invites the artist, the audience—the human—into a compelling, physical experience. Based out of its home studio, Green Space in Queens, NY, VG/DE combines performance and specialized outreach programs to inspire communities in cultural institutions throughout the world. As a professional nonprofit dance company, the communities we engage with have included at risk youth, adolescents, the chronically ill, trauma survivors, immigrants, senior citizens and aspiring/professional dancers.
Diana León
Dance educator and choreographer from Bogota. Artistic director of ConCuerpos.
Dancer, choreographer and dance teacher. She has a degree in Art Education from the Francisco José De Caldas University. She studied dance at Danza Común academy and the Instituto Superior de Artes de La Habana (Cuba) ISA. Diana is a student of the specialisation in Human Development with an emphasis on affective and creative processes at the Francisco José de Caldas University. She has participated as choreographer and co-director in the companies Teatro Asfalto y Polvareda “Simoncito” (2007), Línea de aire Contemporary dance company “Detrás de mis ojos”, “La Oruga” and “Oxigeno” (2008-2012), and, La Torpe Company “Luna Inquieta” (2015). As a dancer and performer she has participated in works by the companies Itinera physical theater (2013), La Resistencia (2014-2015), La Malinche (2015), Imagen en Movimiento in the dance film “De cara al Cielo” (2015), OBJET-FAX (2017-2019) and ConCuerpos (2018). Since 2019, she is the Artistic Director of ConCuerpos leading the training program of the company Zona de Creación Accesible (Accessible Creation Zone) and directing the dance “2/3y un baño” which had a telematic version in 2020, and was developed thanks to the creation grand given by the District Institute of the Arts in Bogota, IDARTES.
Laisvie Andrea Ochoa
Choreographer, video artist and inclusive dance expert. Director of ConCuerpos.
Colombian-Lithuanian choreographer, inclusive dance expert and video artist. She is the co-founder and current leader of “ConCuerpos”. Laisvie studied Psychology and a Specialisation in Multimedia Creation in Colombia and the Master in Choreography COMMA (CODARTS / Fontys) in the Netherlands. She trained in dance mainly at Danza Comnun academy in Bogota and has been a dancer in Colombia for the companies La Arenera, Tercero Excluido, Korpe, and La Gata Cirko. Laisvie is a member of the performing arts magazine el cuerpoeSpin and she has co-written 2 books in the field of Inclusive Dance. Laisvie has directed dance works in Colombia, Argentina, and the Netherlands. Currently, her main creative exploration is multimedia performance, while maintaining the values she developed in her inclusive dance practice: work from subjectivity, develop bodily intelligence from a state of listening and find creative freedom from the abundance of imagination. Laisvie addresses political and human issues in her works, with a broad understanding of dance. At the moment she moves between Colombia and the Netherlands, continuing her work with ConCuerpos, being a dance teacher and a maker. In the Netherlands, she is working for the dance theatre company Plan D and as a video artist for the choreographer Roshanak Morrowatian.
