On Tuesday 3rd November at 18:30, ŻfinMalta & Heritage Malta invite Rodia Vomvolou, high-profile international dance dramaturg, for the fifth of ŻfinMalta’s Movimento appointments at MUŻA.

 

‘‘Exploring the Dance Dramaturg, this Stranger” – Movimento Appointment 5

 

Rodia Vomvolou tells us more …

 

Who are you (now)?

Ι’m a freelance dance dramaturg and mentor working with independent artists, institutions and dance houses mainly in the Netherlands, Greece and Cyprus but also in other European countries. I’m also an External PhD candidate in the Department of Media and Performance Studies of Utrecht University conducting a research project on the self-positioning of the dance dramaturg. Working both in and with theory and practice, I aim to find ways to create artistic and discursive contexts in which I can accompany and empowered the artists and projects I collaborate with.

 

What relationship have you had or do you hope to build with ŻfinMalta?

Ι’m currently collaborating with ZfinMalta for the first time in the context of ZfinMade, mentoring three of the six choreographers. I have known both the company and Paolo Mangiola by name, following their presence in the European contemporary dance field, but I have never had the opportunity to discover their work in person. I was invited to participate in ZfinMade project as a mentor through the mediation of another dramaturg –my colleague Merel Heering- and I’m delighted for this opportunity. I find the initiative of ZfinMalta to support young Maltese choreographers and provide them with the space and mentoring for growth in the context of a national company’s production, as a very valued one. At the same time on a personal note, coaching emerging choreographers is the favorite part of my practice as a dramaturg. Additionally, the invitation of doing a Movimento session comes in a perfect timing for me, as I’m very much in the process of looking for opportunities to make more visible and articulate the practice and the role of the dramaturg in dance to a general audience. I hope that my relationship with ZfinMalta will continue and evolve into a fruitful conversation and creative exchange.

 

Tell us a story about you and dance.

The story of me and dance is a story of constant discovering and rediscovering, approaching and reproaching new ways of relating and engaging with dance. It starts at the age of 3, when I demanded from my mum to go into a ballet class and I basically spent all of my childhood and teenage years into a studio, dancing ballet and contemporary dance. At first I thought of course that I want to become a dancer, but soon I realized that in fact I prefer to be in the creative part off stage. Then I thought I want to become a choreographer and I tried creating my first choreographic piece with a small group of friends; it again didn’t feel right what I was looking for. It was only when I discovered the role of the dramaturg in dance that I finally felt at home and while I’m growing as a professional dramaturg I’m constantly rebuilding my relationship with dance.

 

How would you describe your relationship to movement (if you have one at all)?

“Dramaturgy is above all a constant movement” dramaturg Marianne van Kerkhoven -the mother of contemporary dramaturgy- once said. As a dance dramaturg I’m constantly relating with movement, Ι’m working with movement, I’m perceiving movement, I’m reading movement. But I’m also constantly moving myself; I’m oscillating between proximity and distance, being close and far away from the creation process and the studio, shifting the energy and impacting the process with my movement. I’m a moving body even when I seem static.

 

What are you planning to present on the 3rd November at MUŻA as part of Movimento?

What is the role of dramaturgy in dance and choreography? What does a dance dramaturg at work actually do? How can we approach a project from the lens of dramaturgy? Having these questions as a starting point, in this Movimento session we will have the opportunity to explore dance dramaturgy both in a theoretical and in a practical level, through discussion and tasks. We will familiarize ourselves with contemporary approaches of dramaturgy and the role of dramaturg and we will ponder over thoughts and ideas around the relationship of dramaturgy with choreography.

Which three gestures/movements/action verbs do you think will encapsulate this event?

Questioning | Discovering | Activating

 

 

Reserve your Movimento session here!