Communications Intern, Annie Muise, recently interviewed Em Papineau and Sofia Engelman, dancing artists from New England who will be presenting their piece INSTANT SAVIORS: just add water as a part of the Festival of Us, You & Them. They will be investigating support and trust through exploration of contemporary duet forms. Check them out on June 23 at 2:30Pm in Studio 1.
Q: What made you two interested in dancing together?
A: We actually met each other while dancing together, so it was always a given that movement would be part of our relationship. We became interested in engaging in an ongoing collaborative practice and having a creative partnership because we found that, together, we could push ourselves into exciting, unknown territory. Our romantic relationship provides a foundation of trust, support, and knowing which enables us to dance at the edge of our typical boundaries. We make dances that are entirely specific to who we are, our bodies, and our relationship. This is so profound and liberating. We are also interested in creating queer visibility in contemporary dance spaces; particularly creating room for queer femmes to experience love, strength, and to (literally) boost each other up.
Q: What’s your favorite part of choreographing together?
A: We often enjoy similar things but we come to dance from different places. Sofia grew up a visual artist and writer. Em was an athlete and musician. We are constantly introducing each other to new ways of investigating and experiencing, elevating whatever we are working on into a realm neither of us could have foreseen. When we work together, we also are able to listen to our own needs; when we don’t want to work, we don’t, and when we want to, we do. This goes against everything we were ever taught about rigor, but we find that this way of working from a place of self-care and support of self-care makes magic happen. Choreographing together allows for this freedom in scheduling our time!
Q: Can you discuss your idea of “making an imagined future right now” in your INSTANT SAVIORS: just add water piece?
A: We engage with ideas of utopia and futurity in a variety of ways. Our choreography is impossible to execute perfectly and dancing through impossibility creates space for the unknown; whatever we are moving toward is wholly ephemeral. We are in a constant process of choice-making. Together, we do things we couldn’t do alone. And we are also queer. And in love. It is a simple thing, but it is powerful. We are creating our own, personal queer utopia. In a section that we will not perform at the Festival, there is a kiddie pool filled with fake cash and gold confetti. The confetti–it’s really just large glitter–allows for an interesting situation in terms of how we understand the temporality of the dance. Glitter is kids’ birthday parties, it is futuristic, it distorts our sense of the present, and it is impossible to properly clean off the floor. INSTANT SAVIORS has left its trace in every theater in which it has been performed.
Q: Is there a message you hope audience members will take with them after viewing your work?
A: Here is one: there are infinite ways to be beautiful. This can never be said enough.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about the Festival of Us, You, We, & Them?
A: We always appreciate moments when a lot of artists, with a lot of different focuses and areas of expertise, come together and share what they care about and are thinking about right now.
Q: How does your class/presentation celebrate dance, movement and all arts in the spirit of Festival of Us, You, We, & Them?
A: We try to make choreographic work where we bare our humanity. We fail, we make messes, we WRESTLE with difference, we sweat, we experience something real, and we leave affected. It is a celebration of movement and of being witnessed.
View the full Festival of Us, You, We & Them schedule HERE.