Sanpapie, your company, is interested in fusing words and movement: what influences led you to make this fusion an essential part of your work?
That which we call Fusion is actually a deliberate choice to which we subject our performers, namely that of choosing the right tool to tell the meaning of our shows. We want our performers to use all of their powers of expression, so that the words accompany our research on the bodyin a single creative process, in the end we choose if body or speech are the most appropriate tool to communicate with the public in a specific moment.
The words are never subjugated to the body or vice versa: both are two substantial pieces of our experimentation. Our major influences are the great masters of the theatre who looked into mixing genres to convey their messages, such as Bob Wilson, Johann Kresnik and Matthias Langhoff, with whom Mark has had the honor of working.
For Lara the absolute masters are Pina Bauscht , Marina Abramovic, Sasha Waltz, Wim Vandekeybus, Constance Macras. We are also very close to the poetics of the fragment as practised by Heiner Müller. The fragment can synthesize, get into things. It's versatile: the fragment is dance, theater, music.
Is the piece about Italy in particular, or does it have any more universal aspects?
I am Son is a work about identity, so it was impossible for us to disregard our being in our thirties and Italians of today. Italy is therefore the central point, but not the only one. Somehow we also feel European, although a shared and strong European identity does not exist, in our view.
We feel European when we feel threatened by something we do not know and then we feel closer to French than to a North Korean. We believe, rather, paradoxically, that there is Western identity. A sort of feeling that flattens everything out in favour of a pro-American feeling born out of convenience. I am the Son tries to tell it all: the huge gap between what they told us to be and what we want to be, when we'll understand who we want to be, of course. Therefore we do not feel I am Son is a show about Italy: let's say it is a a show on the West by young Italian schizophrenics.
We feel European when we feel threatened by something we do not know and then we feel closer to French than to a North Korean. We believe, rather, paradoxically, that there is Western identity. A sort of feeling that flattens everything out in favour of a pro-American feeling born out of convenience. I am the Son tries to tell it all: the huge gap between what they told us to be and what we want to be, when we'll understand who we want to be, of course. Therefore we do not feel I am Son is a show about Italy: let's say it is a a show on the West by young Italian schizophrenics.
What is the relationship between Son and BOH, your previous Fringe entry? Are they similar in any way?
BOH and I am Son are two different stages of the same path, two pieces of the same body of research, a field survey of our work. They are two very different shows, they talk about different things, but they look in the same way at the transformation of the body as a function of communicating with the public. They remain, however, two shows almost in opposition in their formal and aesthetic traits : BOH is delicate, intimate, with an inner world gradually revealed, I am Son is raw, direct, all-encompassing and collective. In BOH the search comes from within, in I am Son the stimuli come from the surrounding world. Despite this they both have in common the concept of the body as a mirror, or perhaps a medium, between what is inside and what is outside.
What is the birthright that the work is looking at?
We are looking at more than one right: the right to self-awareness, the right to make mistakes, the right to be free to choose... all part of our birthright.
Do you feel any sympathy with other dance companies, either in what they produce or the way they work?
At this moment we believe in sharing, in discussion and exchange with those exploring the transformations of the body. To this end, in Milan, our home town, we are trying to involve other dancers and artists to share with us their research. This project has been ongoing for 3 years, is called TANDEM - like riding a bicycle for two - and lead us to invite other dancers to do their show in our place of residence, the Space Mil.
Amongst other Companies we look at with respect and admiration, and also looking to share creative ideas such we would like to mention Susanna Beltrami, a Milan-based choreographer , whilst thanks to the Fringe we have discovered and met two great companies, the Scottish Dance Theatre, which we admire very much as a company and a community of artists, and DOT 504, from Prague, especially for their research in physicality.
And what has encouraged you to come back to the fringe?
The fringe is a great experience: in 2009, although it was tough, we went back to Italy profoundly changed, especially artistically, and for the better. Since then we chased the possibility of coming back and thanks to Dance Base and Morag Deyes this year we succeeded.
From the Fringe we seek especially the communication with other artists and the public, that here is always diverse and passionate, and to hear the opinion of critics, who here demonstrate an attention to the shows and an expertise hard to find in Italy these days. And, above all, the beer and the excellent whiskey.
16- 25 August @ Dance Base, various times
16- 25 August @ Dance Base, various times
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