Women Cinemakers meets
Avatâra Ayuso Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
I was trained as a ballet dancer (ten years at the dance conservatoire of Majorca). I studied Hispanic Philology and Linguistics in Madrid (I Ioved it). I had a tumour in my left leg that forced me to abandon pointe shoes work (classical ballet, then, could not be a dance career for me). I discovered Argentinean tango and contemporary dance and I found myself in them. At some point in my life, I encountered fantastic choreographers that encouraged me to explore my choreographic skills. Until that point I did not know how one could become a choreographer. They, especially William Forsythe and Shobana Jeyasingh, taught how to develop an analytical eye, to understand composition in space, in time, to develop a visual imaginary on stage to communicate with the audience. In 2009 I encountered The European Centre for the Arts Hellerau in Dresden, a place that became an artistic paradise for me, where I could experiment, try new ideas, be brave, fail. They made me Associate Artist and since then Dresden has become another home for me. First home is Majorca, second London, third Dresden, fourth Morocco…I am a citizen of the world. And it all started thanks to my parents. The travelling experiences they offered me since I was a child changed my life and taught me several lessons: 1) you are privileged because you happened to be born in a specific country of the so called “first world”, but we all deserve to be treated well and respected as human beings; 2) women are a driving force all over the world, all my admiration to them; 3) it is good to rest and not to dance from time to time; 4) the big question after every trip: how am I going to share those visual/personal experiences when I’m back home, how to integrate them on my artistic practice? (I cannot take the Sahara on stage!) I found the answer to this last question: bring your people to these landscapes so they can see it with their own eyes; and, if choreography is not the medium for you to express these feelings find another way: film. This is how the film direction came to my life: I had the need to share something extraordinary and a traditional dance production on stage was not suitable for me. One never knows what life can leads us to… An interview by Francis L. Quettier
inviting them to visit
and Dora S. Tennant
http://www.avadancecompany.com in order to
womencinemaker@berlin.com
get a wider idea about your artistic production
Hello Avatâra and welcome to : we would like to introduce you to our readers by
and to start this interview we would ask you a couple of questions regarding your background.