Dance + Inclusion Residence
Creative Contagion is the name of the first inclusive dance residence in GAM, a collective work in digital format with a creative team ranging from non-professional scenic artists to awarded film directors.
The project has the goal of promoting instances for professional artistic creation while including people living with disabilities in its team. This first experience has been directed by Francisco Medina, who formed three diverse creative teams, including:
- Four interpreters born with visual and motor disabilities, all of them agents of change in their social, artistic, academic and educational contexts.
- Three composers with vast experience that stand out within diverse styles, such as chamber music, experimental electronic, pop and movie scores.
- Two filmmakers, creators that have experimented with audiovisual language with a strong authorial imprint in the genres of video clip, drama and testimony.
- One director, one assistant, one choreographer and different areas of the GAM team.
This whole process has been directly accompanied by the GAM teams. This format has allowed a respectful rapport between creators and GAM, while at the same time validating a joint search with GAM as an organization.
The residence pretends to achieve the acknowledgment of one’s own body while serving the practice in its new online and confined format. This has been developed together with music composers, who created pieces inspired by the bodily calligraphy of each scenic artist. This is a socially inclusive model, where every creator is equal.
“Everyone is a creator in this residence, not only the interpreters. This is the gal of the socially inclusive model. This project includes interpreters, composers, filmmakers and directive team. Everyone at the same level. In this case the inclusive residence, as its name states, includes every single one of us”
— Francisco Medina, general director.
Preview
The pieces created during the DANCE + INCLUSION residence was shown during the Seminario de Políticas Co (Comunidades, Compromiso y Colaboración) organized by GAM and Pro Helvetia. It was a rare chance to witness the results through dance videos, video testimonies and conversations with its creators. On December 9 we had the chance to watch La fuerza (Strength), with Francisca Guerra and Héctor Medina; on December 10 we saw La energía (Energy) with José Sapiaín; and on December 11 El tiempo (Time) with Jorge Becker.
Interpreters
Jorge Becker, actor
One of the most renowned Chilean actors of the last two decades, one who has stood out both in cinema and theater. He is one of the founding members of Teatro en el Blanco, the company responsible for emblematic plays such as Neva and Diciembre. He was a stable member of Paulina Mellado’s dance company for more than 7 years and he was awarded a Caleuche Award in 2018 for his lead performance in the movie Vida en Familia.
Since 2016, after being diagnosed with leukoencephalopathy, he has suffered visual, cognitive and motor long term consequences which have kept him away from the stage.
José Sapiaín, athlete and amateur dancer
An athlete that has proven himself in swimming and field and track achieving important triumphs such as the first place in the 10K Santiago marathon (2012) in the category of males with motor disabilities. He has trained in dance with the duo “Power Peralta”.
José was born with sacral agenesis caused from caudal regression syndrome, a condition that makes it impossible for him to move his legs. He is the only Chilean case of this syndrome, and there are only other 4 cases in the world. Nowadays he offers motivational talks where he teaches that with effort and perseverance noting is impossible.
Francisca Guerra, dance student
A third year dance student from the Universidad de las Américas. She is a part of the cycle Cuerpo inteligencia (Body Intelligence) done during 2019 to honor Chilean choreographer Carmen Beuchat, where she presented the final study of her piece La luna es testigo (The Moon Is the Witness). She participated in the re-staging of the piece during the Peñiko festival of scenic arts, in Villa Grimaldi.
After a series of surgeries to correct her spine she has been living with metallic support all down her back, being the only dance student living with motor disabilities in her university.
Héctor Medina, speech therapist and student
Trained as a speech therapist specialized in vocal and artistic technique in the Universidad Mayor. He has worked on physiological recovery of the human voice and his line of development is directed to interpretation and creation, and revolver around the investigation of bodily pedagogical practices.
When he was only 13 years old he suffered from childhood bone cancer and after multiple surgeries he has been living with long term motor consequences, something that sparked an interest that evolved into activism for the rights of people living with disabilities and inclusive education. Nowadays he’s studying a Bachelor Degree in Arts with a major in dance in the Universidad de Chile, being the first student with a motor disability enrolled in that career.
Composers and filmmakers
Esteban Illanes
Composer
Kinética
Composer
Ángela Acuña
Composer
María Paz González
Filmmaker
Daniela López Lugo
Filmmaker
Directive team
Francisco Medina
Director
Ana José Manríquez
Choreographer
Carla Donoso
Direction assistant
Creative participation of the GAM teams
Paola Díaz
Production
Ximena Morgado
Audiences
Juan Pablo Klenner
Audiences
Rehearsals
The residence began on October 2020. Each team worked individually, rediscovering their own space as a container of the choreographic work and the relation with their own bodies and other people’s bodies. Using an online format, each team rehearsed around 10 or 12 times. During the deconfinement stage, the virtual residence moved to GAM’s dance hall where they had the chance to rehearse twice a week.
Then, after doing some location scouting, directors María Paz González and Daniela López Lugo filmed three dance videos using original scores specially created for these videos.
Backstage
