10 March 2010

Olivier Award-winning choreographer Deborah Colker talks about her forthcoming UK tour.


View Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker's profile

You were nervous before Mix came to the UK but it won an Olivier – are you a little less nervous about bringing Cruel here?
That’s just one of my character traits: I always get jumpy when presenting a new work – you always feel as though it’s the first time!

Tell us about Cruel…
Recently I’ve been searching for a new language of movement with each show. Cruel takes a brutal look at life and love: there’s a table which represents the family and there are mirrors which reflect cruelty. There’s nothing crueller than seeing yourself in the mirror and becoming aware of your past, present and whatever is left for you.

What do you hope audiences will get out of it?
I hope audiences will be stimulated into reflection, but that they’ll also be touched and will find the piece beautiful. To an extent, the way the audience understands the story is its own choice, just as each dancer is the interpreter of their own story.

How do you feel watching those dancers? Some of your choreography is pretty risky physically…
Risk is never the motivation of my work – it’s a result of it. We rehearse a lot and develop techniques and strategies to allow us to deal with our ideas.

Is dance a part of life in Brazil in a way that it isn’t elsewhere?
Dance is different everywhere. The weather, the geography, the history and the day-to-day needs of each country give dance its particular attributes. Then there’s the influence within each artist… I hope every person, city and country keeps its own distinctiveness.

What’s the most beautiful thing about dance?
Simplicity – and the ability and capacity to transform the body into feelings and ideas through movement. It should carry the audience away to somewhere new.

© Andrew Mellor

Dance Consortium