Bosque Pehuén residency: “Vagarosas”, dance and geological movements

“Vagarosas” is a research project by the choreographer Lina Gomez that started in 2019, which explores the relationship between dance and geology, as well as the cultural and musical influences of Brazil and Slavic countries. The research dwells in the use of the voice, using the figure of the mountain and the volcano as metaphors of movement and perseverance. The term “vagaroso” in Portuguese refers to the quality of something being slow, smooth and intense, a continuous, unhurried, and languid movement.

Through this project, the artist reflects on natural processes and the resilience of nature after transformative events that give rise to new cycles. The figures of the mountain and the volcano stand out, apparently immobile forces but in constant internal movement, just waiting for the tectonic activity to cause physical and chemical changes, thus restarting a new cycle. A metaphor about our role in society and how we can reconnect with our ecosystems after transformative events, to think together about our place in today’s society and in the future.

In this residency, Lina Gómez will be accompanied by the dancers Julek Kreutzer (AT), Kate Wolińska (PL), Kiana Rezvani (IR), Lena Strützke (DE), Mariana Romagnan (BR) and the musician(s) Paulina Kühling (PL) and Michelangelo Contini (IT). The group of artists will dedicate two weeks to an exchange with the natural environment, connecting with its landscapes, movements and its human and non-human inhabitants. 

In addition, they will have the opportunity to learn from experts in geology and conservation, including Amerindia Jaramillo and Sebastián Carrasco from Fundación Mar Adentro, the geologist Manuel Schilling from the Austral University, the deputy administrator of the Villarrica National Park, Felipe Ortega, and the members of the Southern Andean Mountains Natural Laboratory, Carla Marchant and Patricio Contreras. The main objective of these meetings is to promote an interdisciplinary exchange and establish connections to research that links art, science and nature.

At the end of the two weeks, Lina Gómez and Julek Kreutzer will share their practice with the inhabitants of Curarrehue in an intergenerational workshop. In this workshop, the movement generated by images of nature will be explored and the relationship between our body and nature will be reflected upon. In addition, the experience of living in a mountain range will be addressed and how the inhabitants of the area conceive and live next to volcanoes. 

 This project is supported by the Einzelprojektförderung of the Senatsverwaltung für Kutur und Europa in Berlin, Fundación Mar Adentro in Chile, Perform(d)ance – Stralsund and Schloss Bröllin. It is in co-production with Radialsystem Berlin, where the premiere will take place in July 2023.

About the artists

Lina Gomez is a choreographer, dancer and teacher born in Bogotá, Colombia, currently based in Germany. In 2002 she arrived in Brazil where she began her work in Contemporary Dance and in Brazilian and Colombian Popular Demonstrations.

Lina was awarded the “Tanzpraxis 2020 – 2021” scholarship by the Ministry of Culture and Europe of the city of Berlin. She has a Masters in Choreography – MA “Choreographie” from the Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin HZT-Berlin. She is a graduate of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo PUC-SP Brazil in Communication of Body Arts, with qualifications in Dance and Theater.

She has worked as a dancer and performer with Tino Sehgal, Yoshiko Chuma, Janne Gregor, Nancy Banfy, Jorge Garcia, Edson Fernandes, among others. And she has taught classes and workshops in Colombia, Brazil, Portugal, Poland, India, Turkey and Germany. She is a visiting professor at the Berlin University of Arts / Inter-University Center for Dance HZT-Berlin, teaching Baccalaureate and Master’s students (2019).

Kasia Wolinska is a choreographer, dancer and writer born in Gdańsk and living in Berlin. She is a graduate from the Dance Department of the Łódź Academy of Music, the Department of Cultural Anthropology of the University of Łódź, and the Dance, Context and Choreography Program of HZT Berlin.

Michelangelo Contini is a musician, composer and performer originally from Milan, Italy, now based in Berlin. He studied Music and Arts (D.A.M.S.) in Bologna. In 2002 he began different collaborations in musical and performative projects with Gearóid Ó’ Laoghaire, Eurico Ferreira Mathias, Julek Kreutzer, Nancy Banfi, Aaron Snyder, and Ira Demina. Since 2015 he has collaborated with choreographer Lina Gómez as a performing musician and artistic collaborator.

Kiana Rezvan, is a choreographer and dancer, born in Iran and based in Berlin. Her work focuses on the search for untold, hidden and repressed stories, memories and narratives, finding new meanings and relationships. In choreographic works, Kiana focuses on the densities of emotions, sensations and affection, and creates enchanted spaces for poetic resilience.

Mariana Romagnani is a choreographer and performer whose work is developed through a physical-poetic investigation where personal experiences inform the creation of movement. Her 16 years of experience as a performer, assistant director, and teacher at Grupo Cena 11 have strongly influenced her choreographic practice and movement research.

Lena Strützke studies contemporary dance in Berlin and since 2017 shows her own works. As an independent dancer, she has worked for Berliner Tanztage, Santiago a Mil Festival, Dock11, Radialsystem, Residency for Plants Air Program Novi Sad, Kampnagel Summer Festival, Berlin Opera Academy, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Constanza Macras “Dorkypark”, among others.

Julek Kreutzer is a dancer and choreographer based in Berlin. She studied dance, context and choreography at the Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin (HZT Berlin) and is a founding member of the association Tänzer ohne Grenzen e.V. As a dancer, she has worked with Lina Gómez, Anna Nowak, Alice Chauchat, Lyllie Rouvière and Bella Hager, a.o. Her choreographic work combines movement, speech, and performance while bringing together artists with and without prior stage experience (Entenübersetzung, 2018; Dances of Exhaustion 2020).

Paulina Miu Kühling is a vocal artist, composer and voice researcher. She perceives the human voice as a multidimensional tool for expression and empowerment, as well as a means of care and understanding towards oneself and other human beings and more than human beings. In her work she fuses contemporary vocal elements with archaic songs and chants from a diverse cultural context with a focus on Slavic musical heritage.