Lia Rodrigues

To make known something secret or unknown; to expose; to disclose; to reveal the identity of; to make manifest; to disclose to view; to remove or lift a covering from; to uncover; to obtain for the first time sight or knowledge of; to detect the presence of; to make a discovery; to make admission; to confess. This dictionary-definition of the word "discover" might well serve as an abstract, yet adequate synopsis of the choreography of Such Stuff As We Are Made Of.

Les 1001 Vies de Lia Rodrigues. Regi: Luli Barzman, Frankrike, 2005. . Foto: Luli Barzman. Musikk: Zeca Assumçao. Medv: Lia Rodrigues og Companhia de Danças. Fransk tale, engelske undertekster. Beta SP, farger og s/hv, 1 t 10 min.

The 1001 Lives of Lia Rodrigues
Lia Rodrigues er blant Brasils mest innflytelsesrike samtidskoreografer. Hun har bakgrunn fra Compagnie Maguy Marin i Paris, før hun etablerte sitt eget kompani i Rio de Janeiros Maré Favela, der livet ikke bare er samba på roser. Ofte er hverdagen en kamp mot vold og korrupsjon, noe som reflekteres i Rodrigues sterke, rå og poetiske scenebilder.

Regissør Luli Barzman lot kamera gå i 18 måneder og fikk et kaleidoskopisk portrett av en lidenskapelig og uredd kunstner og mor. Hennes utrettelige arbeid og kunstneriske søken har resultert i brutale og sterke bilder, med et land i rystende smerte som bakgrunnsteppe. En naken, blodig kropp beveger seg med rykninger inne i en halvgjennomsiktig plastsekk, en annen ser ut til å holde sine egen innvoller i hendene, mens atter en annen har gjort sin kropp forknytt og ugjenkjennelig ved hjelp av pakketape. Vi lar Lia Rodrigues ord være inngangen til hennes dans: "Jeg er aldri tilfreds… kanskje er jeg bare glad når jeg er i kaos, når jeg er i konstant søken…".

Magne Antonsen (Dans for kamera)/red.

Upon entering the open gallery space the audience discovers, one after another, figures unfolding in intriguing solo- duo- and group-configurations. Each time, the dislocated bodies emerge from another unexpected, forgotten, lost corner. Their bodies are displayed as fascinating, moving human sculptures. Bundles of flesh, blood and skin that are imprinted with collective meaning, dreams and imagination. Vehicles of ideas and convictions. Sources of power and pleasure. Stuff that is incessantly fragmented and transformed, advertised and sold, the site where identity struggles and forms itself. Since for most of the duration of the piece there is no clear demarcation between stage and audience, we become increasingly aware of our own position, our own bodies, which have gradually, unknowingly become part of the performance.
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
Although Such Stuff As We Are Made Of (which Lia Rodrigues developed in close collaboration with the eight members of her company) has clear affinities with the sculptural choreographies of artists such as Meg Stuart or Charlotte Vanden Eynde (whose work was presented in earlier City of Women festivals), it speaks only in its own consistent language. But Rodrigues' powerful vocabulary is just as highly reminiscent of, for instance, Barbara Kruger's striking iconic text-photo juxtapositions. With Such Stuff As We Are Made Of Kruger's "We have received orders not to move", "Buy me, I'll change your life", "You are not yourself", or "Your Body is a battleground" receive their third dimension.

Lia Rodrigues (Brazil) graduated in classical ballet at the Escola de Bailado in Sao Paulo. In 1977 she founded the Grupo Andança which, in the following year, received the Arts Critics Association of Sao Paulo award for "Best New Company". In the 'eighties she moved to Europe, where she worked and danced with Compagnie Maguy Marin. In 1990 she returned to Brazil, settled in Rio de Janeiro and established the Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Danças. Her choreographies have been presented in Europe, the US, and Israel. In Brazil she has received numerous awards, and is today considered one of the country's most accomplished avant-garde, innovative choreographers. Lia Rodrigues is also a founder and the artistic director of the Rio international contemporary dance festival Panorama RioArte Danca (which is currently in its 10th year).

http://www.tigertail.org/lia98.html

Such Stuff As We Are Made Of
conception, choreography, direction: Lia Rodrigues; dancers: Marcela Levi, Micheline Torres, Marcele Sampaio, Rodrigo Maia, Amália Lima, Jamil Cardoso, Ana Carolina Rodrigues, Renata Brandão; collaboration on the choreography: M. Levi, M. Torres, M. Sampaio, R. Maia, A. Lima, Denise Stutz; original soundtrack: Zeca Assumpção; lighting design: Milton Giglio; set & space: Keller Veiga; costumes: Cica Modesto; choreography assistant: Denise Stutz.