Bosque Pehuén Residency Program: Multidisciplinary Nature Research Station
2023| Vagarosas

Vagarosas is a research project by choreographer Lina Gómez, that started in 2019, which explores the relationship between dance and geology, as well as cultural and musical influences of Brazil and Slavic countries. The research investigates the use of the voice, 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, soft 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 figure 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.

The group of artists spent two weeks exploring and tuning in with the natural environment of Bosque Pehuén, an area under private protection of Fundación Mar Adentro, connecting with its landscapes, movements and human and non-human inhabitants. The research included various activities and field work in the temperate rainforest, accompanied by Amerindia Jaramillo and Sebastián Carrasco, members of the conservation team of Fundación Mar Adentro. 

In addition, two expeditions were carried out; the first to the Quetrupillán volcano, and a second day, in which they visited the Pichillancahue glacier area, both located in the vicinity of Bosque Pehuén, La Araucanía region. During these hikes, they were accompanied by the geologist and deputy director of the Andes del Sur Natural Laboratory, Manuel Schilling, and the Villarrica National Park ranger, Felipe Ortega. They also visited the Volcanological Observatory of the Southern Andes (OVDAS), where active volcanoes throughout the country are monitored, analyzed and watched in real time.

During the last week of the residency at Bosque Pehuén, an open rehearsal and subsequent dialogue took place with the participation of people from the fields of science and art. Among them were ecuadorian ecologist Fausto Sarmiento, the director of the Andes del Sur Natural Laboratory of the Universidad Austral, Carla Marchant, researcher Tomás Ibarra of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Amaranta Palma, director of the dance group Viceversos.

During the show, the dance group shared with the public part of the creative process of the choreographic work Vagarosas. Afterwards, a participatory exercise was carried out that invited the audience to reflect on the mountain. Finally, a dialogue was opened between the public and the artists to reflect together on the mountains, their relationship with the inhabitants of this territory, their geo-conservation and their cultural value. 

Mountain Bodies Workshop 

On Monday April 3 and Tuesday 4, a creative workshop called “Mountain Bodies” was held at the Espacio Arte Ko-Panqui. On this occasion, children, young people and older adults from the Curarrehue area were invited to participate in a workshop focused on exploring bodily movements inspired by the strength of the mountain and the volcano. The workshop, given by Lina Gómez and Julek Kreutzer, was an opportunity to share and reflect on the relationship between the body and the presence of different elements of nature in the Andean Araucanía through movement, words, drawing and the exchange of experiences with the landscape. 

This project was supported by the Einzelprojektförderung of the Senatsverwaltung für Kutur und Europa of Berlin, Fundación Mar Adentro of Chile, Perform(d)ance – Stralsund and Schloss Bröllin. It is in co-production with Radialsystem Berlin, where the project will be premiered in July 2023. We would also like to thank the support and collaboration of Felipe Ortega and the team of park rangers from Villarrica National Park, Claudio Ansorena and his team at Ko-Panqui, Loreto Córdova from OVDAS, as well as the dance group Purukawe, the Complejo monseñor Fco. Valdés and the group of senior citizens from Curarrehue.   

During the last week of the residency at Bosque Pehuén, an open rehearsal and subsequent dialogue took place with the participation of people from science and art. Among them were Ecuadorian ecologist Fausto Sarmiento, Carla Marchant, director of the Andes del Sur Natural Laboratory of the Universidad Austral, researcher Tomás Ibarra of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Luz Ugarte, member of Obras Naturales, and Amaranta Palma, director of the dance group Viceversos.

During the show, the group shared with the public part of the creative process of the choreographic work Vagarosas. Afterwards, a participatory exercise was carried out that invited the audience to reflect on the mountain. Finally, a dialogue was opened between the public and the artists to reflect together on the mountains, their relationship with the inhabitants of this territory, their geo-conservation and their cultural value. 

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 graduated from the Dance Department of the Łódź Academy of Music, the Department of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Łódź and the Dance, Context and Choreography Program at HZT Berlin. She was a resident of Centro Selva Peru, Festival transeuropa in Hildesheim and Zarya AIR in Vladivostok. In the years 2013-2018, she directed the performative project Hi Mary. She produced and presented her work at Art Stations Foundation, Radialsystem Berlin, Hebbel am Ufer, Nowy Teatr in Warsaw, Judson Church NYC, Het Veem and others.

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.