THEATER MAKER
and CREATIVE
I can define my work as a theatre-maker in the context of ‘social justice physical theatre’.
I am socially and personally committed to any topic that relates to human rights and mental health, using theatre as a tool for social and personal change. I have absolute respect for any human being, whomever the person I have next to me, everyone has a reason to be here, we need each other no matter how different we are because differences are our strength. Otherwise, it causes conflict, and this is the beginning of the end of love.
I am personally, professionally, and pedagogically committed to respecting, at all levels, to whomever or whatever surrounds us.
I do enphasis on using heatre for vulnerable young people at risk to be excluded and living in crisis serving as a tool for inner expression and self-development to improve assertiveness, social integration, and cognitive and affective development, promoting the youth wellbeing, resilience and positive behaviour.
Among my main research topics, "dehumanisation", "mental health disorders and suicidal thoughts" and "women at war" stand out.
The main pillars of my work come from movement interconnected to voice, physical comedy, classical theatre, and poetry. Right now, I am exploring movement as a psychophysical art through practitioners such as Grotowski, Michael Chekhov, Laban, Philip Zarrilli, and Eugenio Barba among other arts such as Kalaripayattu, Balliinesse Masks, Contemporary Dance, and Aerial Acrobatics.
The expressive use of movement works as the main language but also as a means for character composition. Comedy is present through character creation, action, and storytelling, and the narrative of the story is fulfilled and opened to the application of other techniques such as masks, puppetry, shadows, animated objects, and body puppetry.
As a pedagogue and actor, I am exploring, practicing and experiencing in acquiring a depth understanding on the technique on character composition and text embodiment through movement using a multidisciplinary combination of perspectives which I have called "Movement in Text".
Concurrent, I am working towards the connection between architecture, mental health, voice, and movement both for my theatrical, pedagogical and acting practice. I am interested in the connection between movement, the architecture of movement from its anatomy and the self inner and outer psychological perspective and behaviour that leads to the unconscious mind through the use of our voices and bodies.
As a lover of Children theatre, tales, circus and physical comedy, I am rehearsing a solo circus performance for children using physical comedy and aerial silks through a traditional tale; Years living abroad, I started breathing Mediterranean waters so I al also writing a musical theatrical performance to bring poetry and Mediterranean flavour; at last, thanks to a dear director who left us already, in her memory and trust, a solo on Quevedo will start developing earlier 2023.
I apply different resources and explore the multi-disciplinary side of arts to amplify audience senses and achieve a higher level of empathy towards the characters, the story, and the theme covered, since it is through empathy that we start understanding, and it is through understanding when changes start to apply.
THE TEACHER
The Teacher is a work that started from the exploration and interaction between movement, body, and a chair. While researching, I began playing with falling down movement, and the loss of muscle strength. This last exercise was explored by applying material and elements from Lecoq´s technique with the aim of bringing my body to a closer reality of how the body behaves in a structure without muscles or bones.
While training, the idea of a "teacher" as a character came up. As I was exploring and rehearsing, other elements emerged as a part of the storytelling, such as acrobatics movements, slapstick, object animation, and body puppetry.
This work was shown to an audience of 20 who reacted incredibly well. As a consequence of such a positive reaction, the next step is to further explore the figure of the teacher as a clown and the relationship between teacher and student in a classroom, devising a 45-minute family show that allows defining oneself through interaction between the public, story, and character. It will be directed by the great Hernan Gene.
The story is full of nuances, some subtle and direct details that explore and question both the figure of the teacher and the educational system as well as the relationship between education and society, the current relationship between the classroom (as space), teacher, and student through direct dialogue with the audience and a traditional tale.
A show is suitable for street theatre festivals, refugee camps, Key Stages 1, 2, 3, and 4 students, and family theatre.
NAMELESS
"Dehumanisation" will be a physical solo performance that tells the physical, psychological, individual, and social consequences of the act of dehumanising and being dehumanised. It is a journey of researching and reflecting on what we call humanisation and dehumanisation:
What is the line that makes someone go from being human to dehumanise? What is the social spectrum of who are dehumanised and the ones who dehumanise? Can we dehumanise and be dehumanised at the same time? Dehumanise someone is the consequence of having been dehumanised? And if so, how much blame should society and politicians take, if people are not protected from being dehumanised and consequently, to dehumanise to others?
How this circle can be cut? How can we get to the root of the problem to minimise the fact of being dehumanised and to dehumanise? That is why the solo performance goes also through the reflection on the origin and the consequences of judging, lacking acceptance, empathy, and compassion; going through the spectrum of disadvantaged classes; and the understanding of how much an ideology, culture, education, economic and mental health works as a level to increase or decrease the tendency of dehumanising someone or being dehumanised.
After having worked at the young offender’s prison HMP/YOI Cookham Wood in Rochester, I felt how much architecture regulates human behaviour, movement, and use of the voice. Prisons hold unique realities: code, law, size, shape, time, smell, light, race... Many prisoners come from dysfunctional families, mental health disorders, different cultures such as travellers, refugees, low educational levels, and nearly an endless list of possible disadvantages that reflect that before dehumanising people, they were already dehumanised.
It is extremely important to talk about, this is what makes our world in continuous conflict, talk about it helps to understand, research and explore to find ways to improve from the root how to live together and coexist in differences without attacking to each other's but accepting. It is a work in progress.
The piece resorts to Miguel Angel Asturias "Mr President" and to real stories such as the one from Olga Hepnarova who declared:
“I am a loner. A destroyed being. A being destroyed by others, I am the victim of your bestiality”
PROJECTIONS
This is a Piece of Physical and Textual Theatre that belongs to a project differentiate into two parts: the first one, a workshop thought for young people who undergo low self- esteem and mental health disorders involving the use of drama, architecture and movement; and the second part, a performance “Asphyxia” which reflects the physical and emotional consequences of undergoing mental health disorders and low self esteem. The interconnection between workshop and stage work represents the idea of a mirror: Workshop as a way to allow individuals to express themselves ending with a final work sample of their choice, and at the end, watching a show that talks about what they have been working on the workshop. The performance is also absolutely accessible for all audiences interested in mental health disorders and physical theatre.
The performance embodies and materialises both the physical and emotional pain, and joy that human beings go through. It shows the mathematical equation of the different levels of mind (neurological, physical, social, economical, geographical, cultural, political, gender, race, religious...) and how adding or taking them away will affect humans pathways and choices of life. Therefore, nobody should be blamed or disrespected from having a different starting position -equality; on the contrary everyone should have the same rights and opportunities. The performance also shows that having mental health disorders is not a choice but a consequence of how life is, and how the different areas of our life are affected, and therefore how our emotional intellect (emotions and behaviour) manage them. It is also a message about feelings and how human being manages them.
The performance is a multidisciplinary work that combines live music, movement, text, media, architecture and installations. It brings a strong storytelling through puppetry, mask work, sensorial work that materialises touch and senses through sound installation, visual work using abstract art, authentic art and video installation. The narrative of the story tells different areas and realities from different backgrounds about mental health disorders.
The performance is also a game that plays with the unconscious exploring mind stimulations through architecture, senses, archetypes, movement, and music with a sensorial language.
Different experiences of how languages work will also be part of the performance such as silence, word, poetry, sound, multilingualism and literature taking works from Spanish language literature as poems from Maria Castrejón or poems from English language literature such as T.S Eliot or real stories.
The aim is to make audience experience it in order to give them the chance to be in the other´s skin: thoughts, and feelings and backgrounds because when you experience the other´s body and mind, you are more able to increase empathy about the other´s physical and emotional experiences. Therefore, you will increase understanding positioning anybody in a greater understanding of what mental health is bringing respect towards the other´s behaviour, emotions and feelings and avoiding rejection, judgments, misconceptions towards people´s feelings to finally avoiding further isolation.
Having this attitude will increase a positive behaviour that will help to reduce the silence to talk about feelings. This will bring the feeling of being valued, understood, and accepted decreasing the percentage of further physical and/ or emotional aggression which will boost a positive action to recover.
The ultimate goal is to have the opportunity to change social behaviour by bringing understanding of the consequences of mental health disorders, to create a positive political interaction between different political ideologies to work towards the same pathway, the increase of economical support and facilitate the integration of dysfunctional societies.
EXPLORING
Fly the nest between the fallen and risen
Movement piece devised from an exercise to explore Spine movement by working with geometry and anatomy.
Work is done by exploring spine extension, curves, dynamics, flexibility, and applying external elements that could intensify the experience of spine movement and the experience between the spine and the other parts of the body.
The elements applied to that exploration are water, dynamics of circular objects, and any circular movement that comes from nature such as snakes or waves.
I have also explored some movement techniques from masters like Grotowski and Laban, as well as playing with gestures using all parts of the body in isolation.
Embodying the Resonance of the Soul
Movement piece devised during the residency at Laban Institute. The piece explored the theme of soul and eco on medieval buildings which hold so much history on their walls and to shape their soul. The piece explored the hidden soul and narratives that ancient architecture hold in their space through Laban Technique. On top of the exploration, director Nan Yaniz, requested to incorporate the result into a specific song.
The work was presented at the Cambridge Ideas Festival directed by Nan Yaniz.
The Child
Movement and text piece based on the exploration of the different stages of a child development. The piece was devised following Dangerosity creative practice and the results of a strong technique movement improvisation explored from David Glass and Matej Matejka residency. The work also incoorporated a question paper asked to children with the question "What do you think an adult does? some answers were incoorporated on the piece. The work was presented in Soho bar Theatre in London under Dangerosity production.
Exhale
Movement piece that explores oxygen, breath, feeling and doing in connection to mind agony through materials, movement and voice.
