Preview: When I Left the Room- research dance performance- reflection on identity, culture, and human relationships

Preview: When I Left the Room- research dance performance– reflection on identity, culture, and human relationships- presented in Cape Town by Anderson Carvalho Dance & Choreography

Brazilian/Dutch, Anderson Carvalho is an internationally acclaimed performance artist, dancer and choreographer. His company, Anderson Carvalho Dance & Choreography (ACDC) is an independent, creation-based contemporary dance company and collaboration is core to the ethos of the company. Anderson Carvalho was born and raised in Fortaleza, Brazil and currently lives between Holland and Cape Town. The company’s new research dance performance, When I Left the Room, is premiering in Cape Town. It was conceived and created in Cape Town. In this piece, it is posed: “Who are you today?” When you leave a room- what does that mean physically, emotionally and spiritually? For Anderson Carvalho, it is about inviting his dancers and all of us “to be in the present, to connect; to allow ourselves to be taken in the journey, to evoke emotions, sensations and translate feelings into movement.”Scroll down to see production credits and the incredible creatives that are involved with this innovative production. We are still in a pandemic and it awe inspiring that Carvalho has made this production a reality- on stage and that he is collaborating with a wide range of artists, from different countries and art backgrounds. The four dancers are from South Africa. The composer is based in Holland. A shout-out to Tristan Finance for its sponsorship, in facilitating the staging of this When I Left The Room  and ensuring that everyone gets paid.  Info as supplied:

When I Left the Room- choreographed and directed by Anderson Carvalho

‘When I left the Room, is a research dance performance of four bodies that acknowledges their inter-dependency: A reflection on identity, culture, and human relationships. Inside a “room” the bodies negotiate possibilities of being in togetherness and physically experimenting, exploring notions of adaptation, agency, and connectedness. In this work, there is an exploration in how we understand and perceive the world around us and how it impacts on our relationships, given one’s constantly changing point in space/time. The piece is a movement exploration and translation of today’s internal, social, and relational conflicts on human bonds in a modern society; where human bonds have become light and lose.

Inspiration for When I Left The Room

When I Left the Room has been inspired by studies and research on identity and relationships by the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of “liquid modernity, globalized world, and human relationships”. Bauman’s wide-ranging work touches on both classical sociological themes like rationalization and modernity and extends social theory to address the most contemporary of social issues such as human relationships. We are all bodies manifesting into different forms according to our different ways of experiencing and living in this world.

Physical and emotional journey- who are you today- physically and emotionally?

When I Left the Room goes beyond leaving a physical space – leaving a physical room. It’s about taking yourself on a far journey; questioning, observing and facing the darkness to come to a new world – through a choreographic creation process. Who are you today? It’s about finding yourself through movement and choreography, leaving behind your old-self and all the labels that society has taught, demanded, and given to you. “I have decided to explore different choreographic routes and experience creation from as many different angles as possible, crossing borders, be in the present, challenging, searching for new spaces, forms, sounds, movement and opportunity for the expression of a creative freedom. A deep search for a more human body that moves from its inner world, allowing itself to get lost and have the opportunity to undress all the uniforms, labels that have been carried around, an opportunity to get closer to the dancers themselves, to be in the present, to connect, to allow ourselves to be taken in the journey, to evoke emotions, sensations and translate feelings into movement” – Anderson Carvalho

Collaboration with artists, from different countries

When I Left the Room is performed by four South African contemporary dancers. In this production Anderson Carvalho has collaborated with a wide range of artists, from different countries and art backgrounds. Part of the music score of the work was composed by the artist Adam Claussen, who wrote 20 minutes of music for When I Left the Room. Originally from the Boston area in the United States, Adam Claussen is an Amsterdam-based composer. The collaboration between the artists happened mostly remotely and via Zoom and WhatsApp. Both artists were in different countries, Anderson in South Africa, and Adam in the Netherlands.

A note from the composer, Adam Claussen

“When I Left the Room has opened a world of opportunity for me as a composer. When Anderson and I met for the first-time last December, I had never written a note of music for a dancer, let alone a 20-minute performance such as this. The way that dancers translate music into movement is fundamentally different from where I’m coming from as a saxophonist or film composer. Compared to film, dance is so abstract an art form, and yet contained within every bodily movement of a dancer is a detailed story which music can help to draw out.” – Adam Claussen.

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