Startup Starters: Growing Movements
Read | 21 June 2024Aerowaves continued its annual Startup Forum at Spring Forward 2024 in Darmstadt, Mainz and Wiesbaden, inviting ten emerging dance presenters to be guided through the festival by five Aerowaves Partners, and to propose a curatorial project. Three projects were awarded €10,000 each to follow through, those by Ilias Chatzigeorgiou (GR), Dimitris Chimonas (CY), and for the first time an international group project, co-ordinated by Samuel Retortillo (ES) along with Simona Deaconescu (RO), Nina Fajdiga (SI), Tony Tran (NO) and Masako Matsushita (IT).
We will be publishing snapshots from their production journeys to track their progress, problems and practical solutions. Here, three members of the group project talk about the initiative they have called Growing Movements: Dance Reforestation.
Samuel Retortillo, Simona Deaconescu and Nina Fajdiga interviewed by Maria Palma Teixeira
Picture: ‘Diario Rural’ by Luciana Croatoo, Margen Festival, Enciso, La Rioja (Spain)
Why do we dance? What is the role of dance professionals? If the widely disseminated expression “culture” leads us back to our connection with the earth and rural contexts, “reforestation” now, in the 21st century, is part of what dance may ultimately need. The prefix “re” suggests the revival of something that once existed and is now lost. Whether referring to dance, a sense of community, or the act of sharing – be it food, thoughts or food for thought – Growing Movements: Dance Reforestation is one of the three curatorial projects proposed by participants following the Startup Forum at Spring Forward 2024. Samuel Retortillo (Spain), co-founder of The Rural Choreographic Center and of Margen Festival, together with Simona Deaconescu (Romania), Nina Fajdiga (Slovenia), Tony Tran (Norway) and Masako Matsushita (Italy) are the dance professionals behind it.
Growing Movements strives to restore the participatory nature of dance within communities, highlighting its role in preserving cultural heritage and fostering a sense of belonging in a rapidly changing world. How? The starting point will take place at the seventh edition of the Margen International Dance and Nature Festival from 21 to 30 June, across five towns of La Rioja, northern Spain, an area of the so-called “emptied Spain”, with little to no access to cultural projects. In this context, the group invites Aerowaves Artists Les Idoles (Chandra Grangean and Lise Messina), to present an outdoor version of REFACE, and will also launch “Dance Reforestation”, a thinktank to promote and open discussion around themes like decentralising dance, community-thinking, and using natural landscapes as eco-sustainable stages for dance.
Samuel, Simona and Nina share their thoughts and challenges on this ongoing project.
What is Growing Movements’ aim and what makes it unique?
Simona Deaconescu: The idea of Growing Movements is still in progress and will be discussed during the Margen Festival. We’re taking baby steps to understand organically what unites us and what we want to develop together. It’s not a huge, transversal project spanning years and countries. Instead, it’s a context for artists, humans, and curators to meet, interact with Sam’s festival audiences, and engage with village communities. We’re allowing ourselves to be influenced by this setting, working from practice to theory and not the other way around , as Samuel once suggested.
Nina Fajdiga: We’ve discussed this extensively, raising questions for an open discussion. Our main focus is to leave the cities and create pop-up events that reconnect us with nature and with the traditional ways art used to be presented. We aim to bring art back to communities.
Samuel Retortillo: Rather than providing answers, our focus is on generating questions. We need to first understand where we are in order to know where we need to go. Dance and the world have evolved significantly. These gatherings aim to update ourselves and fearlessly rethink markets, creation, and the challenges faced in Romania, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, and beyond. Each reality is unique, and we too reside in the margins, not urban centres. Solutions originate from the periphery and move towards the centre, they are not generated in the centre.
It’s important for us to be consistent with this project, which takes a stance not against the dance system but proposes alternative realities and seeks to balance asymmetries. Dancing within the capitalist system is very challenging, but also necessary. We acknowledge and live within this system. However, it’s a good moment for collective reflection, especially with artists from different countries. This is made possible with the support of Aerowaves, and also the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute, and Acción Cultural Española.
Tell us about your decision to work with the piece REFACE by Les Idoles.
Nina: There’s something very interesting about this piece that is about transformation, exploring it through constant change and the subtle movements of two performers on stage. They continuously alter their expressions and remove layers, evolving both practically and conceptually. This dynamic caught our attention and reflects the festival’s interest in provoking questions. The performance also connects to the rural setting of the festival, repurposing spaces like churches or laundry areas, integrating everyday life into art. Moving outdoors enhances the experience and might also bring something for the artists to discover as well, encouraging imagination beyond traditional theatres. Natural light will play a significant role, transitioning with the piece as it unfolds into dusk.
Samuel: Yes, and the piece REFACE is about adaptation, which is what they are going to do here. They will change from indoors to outdoors and from a dance audience to an audience that has never seen it before, so it’s quite relevant in that sense. We really liked other pieces presented at Spring Forward as well, that would also fit our project, but we had to make a choice. Les Idoles aim to move to other places and audiences, they are from neighbouring country France, and their piece doesn’t require great logistics in terms of set or other needs.
What do you think the adaptation of an indoor to an outdoor setting can bring or add to this piece and/or to the experience of the audience?
Simona: While in Darmstadt, we discussed the role of institutions, how institutionalised dance has become, and its integration into market networks. The discussions highlighted how economic terms like “market”, “industry”, and “networking” now influence dance. In the 1960s and 70s, the idea was for some artists to become independent from institutions. However, we’ve become heavily reliant on funding and trends driven by social media popularity, neglecting rural communities without large theatre performances.
These questions, along with the concept of reforestation, led us towards this meeting in Samuel’s festival, where traditional roles are blurred – curator, artist, producer, technician, and others often overlap. And for me personally, this type of practice will save the so-called industry in the end.
The key question is: when did we lose the direct link between artists and audiences, and how can we get that back? This isn’t about eliminating producers or curators, who have improved artists’ lives, but rethinking what may have become a hierarchical relationship. It’s crucial to discuss these issues in festivals where locals, unfamiliar with the dance market, provide honest feedback. It’s important for artists to work in these contexts, let’s not get so used to fancy theatres with hundreds of seats. I don’t think our role as artists, especially in these periods of identity crisis, is to very comfortably present in these kinds of settings.
Samuel: It’s crucial for us, as professionals, to prioritise playfulness over competition and to embrace performing in unconventional spaces that may not traditionally host dance. Engaging with diverse audiences is essential as societal shifts with extreme far-right movements are growing, increasingly threatening artistic freedoms. Dance must adapt and thrive in these evolving contexts, continuing to serve as an expression of the people. Dance is the voice of the people, not the voice of the market.
Performing in small towns holds particular significance. This is not a fashion thing, our aim is not just to entertain but to connect deeply with local communities and challenge the notion that dance is confined to urban centres, golden theatres or mainstream audiences. That is something that makes sense to us, to make a non-reactive political action.
What is the biggest aim of Dance Reforestation, Growing Movements’ first encounter?
Simona: We aim to avoid centralising discussions and goals, and the notion of the “biggest” or “most important”, in favour of multiple contributions. Samuel is already doing dance reforestation with the Rural Choreographic Centre. His concept involves creating within an existing context, questioning what happened between the original “forest” and current actions, and addressing broken cycles in our relationships with the audiences and each other, aiming to find solutions and prevent future issues.
“Reforestation” symbolises replanting interest in dance and movement, which is dwindling in an era of brief attention spans on Instagram and TikTok. Our brains are now shaped to consume intense, short bursts of content, and audiences are getting bored so quickly. The concept of reforestation is strong and relevant, allowing us to discuss these issues without imposing specific answers, directions or aesthetics. So, instead of focusing on rigid objectives, we should embrace the complexity and unpredictability of creative processes.
Nina: Art became business . Our collective’s plan for participating in the Margen Festival involves creating dynamic and natural situations over two days. On one day, we will engage with the audience, discussing our thoughts and ideas while understanding their perspective on the role of a curator, fostering an exchange of views on art. On the other day, we will hold similar discussions with the artists, raising questions about the field and exploring the connection between artists and curators. This approach aims to build a collaborative dialogue between all participants.
Samuel: Since starting The Rural Choreographic Center in 2020, Luciana [Croatto, co-founder of Festival Margen] and I have focused on reforesting, emphasising plant intelligence and botanical knowledge. Reforesting, as Simona mentioned, involves more than just planting trees; it requires understanding the past, the territory, and the community. Recognising the historical reasons for deforestation helps in recovering and reconnecting with the land. For that to happen, you have to make sure the people are involved. In the big cities it can be challenging for the territory and people to feel integrated, due to their dispersed nature and cultural offer. However, in smaller contexts, festivals are a big thing that foster deep relational and transformative spaces where locals and visitors interact, celebrating together with food, walks, and shared traditions. They are no longer an audience, they are neighbours, it’s a different approach.
The notion of “festival” needs reevaluation. Music festivals move millions of euros, yearly dance festivals can gather 150 works in four days. It’s like a big orgy where in the end you don’t know who you have been with. The true value lies in consistent, year-round engagement. Festivals should not solely follow market logic but also support diverse economies that promote knowledge exchange and well-being. This approach isn’t against urban or theatrical settings but complements them, emphasising the importance of sustainable, meaningful cultural practices, with a very clear notion of a desirable future.
What are the main challenges you predict at the initial stage of the project?
Nina: I think most of the challenges will somehow pop up on the way. We are doing this for the first time. I believe it will be much easier to answer what are the challenges when we conclude this edition, hoping we will find ways to take this further.
Simona: I agree. One of the challenges we have faced so far is to make our project clear to the Startup Forum and Aerowaves’ team. But that’s also because of our very unique proposal. It’s also been challenging to coordinate as a group of five with busy schedules during a hectic period for the arts. Samuel in particular faces logistical challenges, such as coordinating flights and transportation to Logroño.
Samuel: It’s also a creative exercise and an opportunity to share new perspectives with Aerowaves, exploring alternative curatorial methods and more collaborative, horizontal approaches to programming. We are not pioneers in anything, we are not the first group that gets together and does this, but we truly aim to challenge traditional hierarchical structures and expand diversity within dance markets, advocating for a more inclusive and dynamic institutional environment.