THE Q&A: DEBORAH COLKER, CHOREOGRAPHER

Deborah Colker leans in close, her elegant hands fluttering emphatically, as she speaks passionately in Portugese-accented English. A Brazilian former psychology student, volleyball player, pianist and dancer turned choreographer has much to be emphatic about--she is the first Brazilian to win a prestigious Olivier theatre award, and is the first woman to write, direct and choreograph a Cirque du Soleil show, "OVO" (egg), a lyrical dance performance about biodiversity now on in Canada.

She is now in New York with her company Companhia de Dança to present her dance piece "4 Por 4", a four-part show in which each act uses a contemporary Brazilian artwork as a base. Dynamic, musically varied and visually appealing, "4 Por 4" reveals Colker's range and her interest in pushing the boundaries of dance. The four pieces, "Corners" and "Table" "Some People" and "Vases" (above), often deal with the constraints of space, to acrobatic and unusual effects.

Here she talks about "4 Por 4", her mix of classical and contemporary influences and what it was like to direct Cirque du Soleil.

More Intelligent Life: The work of your company, Companhia de Dança is very unique. How have you crafted your vision?

Deborah Colker: I used to dance, and all of my experience and the different knowledge I gained influenced me a lot. I find a way to relate to the world with dance. It is important to me to connect performance with art and architecture and the visual arts like in "4 Por 4", and then my personal experiences with dance and different kinds of music. One concept I like to relate my work to is space. Different spaces and constructs--in a wall, in a wheel, in a house. We need to create different bodies, different ways to move, different ways to use classical techniques. In each piece we research different ways to work, with a fluid and strong classical technique for a contemporary mind.

People always ask me "Why is it so sexy?" But what they are saying is not true. Its a different way to use the body. To recognise the body includes how the body begins to change. Movement is what we have to construct dance.

MIL: It is interesting that you mention sensuality, as it seems your work is often about limits and restrictions on the body.

DC: Limits and restrictions create new laws, new answers. [In "4 Por 4"] there are new laws with each visual art work, like with the table, a sculpture that moves. It creates an opposing new reality. To dance on a huge painting, or under the vases where the space is filled with different forms, to navigate, we hold ourselves differently. There is so much limitation and restriction in the places we live, the subway, the earth, we're using the same alternative spaces in different ways.

MIL: So you aim to work the world into your dance?

DC: I need to relate dance in the world--to bring the world into the dance. Such is the case with visual art. I identify arts and dance. The space, the buildings: in performance I identify the same answers and the same questions.

MIL: And how did you come up with the concept for "4 Por 4"?

DC: I thought what will be the next step, I need to go to the next level and use a different kind of visual art, a different kind of architecture, a complex way to relate my work to different conceptions. This performance synthesises a lot of concepts, ideas. To relocate dance in another world, with different spaces, places, energy. Each one has its own way, but all of them are inside the conception of visual art and dance. It's a mixture of strong technique with risk, sensuality.

MIL: You mention classical technique but seem to have a very contemporary outlook. Is your work classical, contemporary or both?

DC: It's funny, I have a contemporary dance company but at the same time I love to keep the classical energy. I demand it from my dancers. We need strong technique so that we can challenge everything, so we can dance.

MIL: How has Brazil influenced your work?

DC: I think we are a new country with new thoughts, new American traditions. You know unlike the European tradition we don't have 3,000 years built on opera, that kind of rigidity. We are very creative with a strong outlook and an original sound. It is a new world. And this is our way, we are a new world.

MIL: You are also the first female director and writer of a Cirque du Soleil performance, OVO. What was that process like?

DC: Well Cirque du Soliel is a strong brand. When I first talked to Gilles [Ste-Croix, Cirque du Soleil Senior Vice President Creative Content] he said it is important for you to know that it will be alive for 15 years. And I needed to think about how I can achieve this with so many people, so many departments, so many performers on the stage. What I have in common with Cirque du Soleil is that I value the relationship with the audience. I love the audience.

I feel they are taking a risk as I am from Brazil, but I can say that 80% of what I wanted is on the stage. In my company 100% of what i want is on the stage. I have a sponsor, Petrobras, and they believe and trust me, so that was something to adjust to.

MIL: Now that it is ready, what's next?

DC: Well, the next project is really "4 Por 4". Here and then in London, Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand.

MIL: What would you like people to take away from "4 Por 4" when they see it this weekend, and all over the world in the upcoming months?

DC: I want people to see my dance and say "wow this is dance!". I love when they approach me afterwards and say "I could feel my life inside the performance" and the performance brings them somewhere inside.

Petrobras presents 4 Por 4, City Centre, October 22nd to 25th

~ ARIEL RAMCHANDANI

Picture Credit: Cia de Dança Deborah Colker