OnGrowingRoots

Multi-stage aristic project
April to September 2021

A multi-stage artistic and physical research that relates dance practice to the ecology of roots.

In this process, we look for ways to experience the system of root-growth within the body.
Dance is the element through which the body roots itself to the different environments it inhabits. And, as a support to dance, we also make use of drawing and writing.
Here, there is no differenciation between art making, ecological thought, and physical practice.



Photos: Kathi Seeman

Spreading Roots

First stage

The first stage of this project is called Spreading Roots.
In this stage, Ana studies trees from her homeland - in the Brazilian Amazon - mixing the knowledge of their biology with their traditional mythology.
She then drew a small oracle of  five cards - five trees. The oracle is made with a printed image of the plant and the roots are Ana’s creation - the imagination of how these trees live under the soil.
Each card has a meaning and tells a different story.

The oracle became the base for the physical exploration of this work. In a practice of dancing and drawing, Ana improvised dances in various locations and then drew her feeling of the environment into paper.
This practice was not viewed as a cartography of the dance, but as the awakening of physical and mental connection to the environment.



This material was shared with an audience as a durational performance-installation in the frame of Rough Proposals 2021, in collaboration with Tanzplattform Rhein-Main.

A digital version of this work was made as a collage of the cards, writings and videos.
︎ click here for the digital version ︎

Enraiza Danza

Second Stage
The second stage of this research happend with a group in the city of Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and a group in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

In this stage, the groups researched artistic and physical practices that could facilitate an individual and collective sense of growing roots.
The practices involved the study of anatomy, meditative walks, automatic writing, breathing exercises derived from Yoga, contemplation, voice recordings, and drawing.

This material was partially collected on the Instagram page @enraiza_danza and partially on the Spotify playlist Práticas para Enraizar (available only in Portuguese)



︎ enraiza_danza

︎  Práticas para Enraizar


This stage of the project happened in collaboration with ID_Tanzhaus Frankfurt Rhein-Main.

TEAM:
Ana Clara Montenegro, Alice Nogueira, Rubia Vaz, Arthur Murtinho, Elena Light, Anna Lublina, and Katja Cheraneva.

Photos: Jörg Baumann