class="">Vava Ştefănescu, choreographer: „I like jumping into the void, with or without a parachute, but only somewhere in the artistic sphere”

Two of the performances selected for this edition of the National Theatre Festival, due from October 23^rd to November 1^st, in Bucharest, are choreographed by Vava Ştefănescu: „Vertigo” (written and directed by Mihai Măniuţiu, a production of the „Aurel Manea” Theatre in Turda ) and „UbuZdup!” (adapted and directed by Gábor Tompa after “Ubu in Chains” and other writings by Alfred Jarry, a production of the National Theatre Cluj-Napoca).

Vava Ştefănescu talks about these performances, about the reception of contemporary dance here and abroad and about her journey in this profession that intersects with other art forms.

Florina Tecuceanu: What is the story behind your decision to study choreographic art?

Vava Ştefănescu: It’s not a really a story, rather an accomplished dream. I was nine years old and training in gymnastics at a sports school in Buzău. In those times all girls were “little gymnasts”, dreaming to become another Nadia Comăneci. Yet I was dreaming to dance. Then it so happened that a selection commission from the Choreography High School in Bucharest passed by and I was selected, along with three other girls. A few months later, in September, I had the first important exam of my life. It took three days of tests and I was admitted.

Did your family influence this decision?

Yes, we danced a lot at home. I learned my first dance steps from my father, who’s not a dancer or an actor; he’s a veterinarian. But my parents didn’t influence my decision. I was very determined to do his. They unconditionally supported my dream. I remember the discussion: they told me that it will be a life of sacrifice, little time for playing, lots of hours of work. And only excellence will make this effort worth it. And I was nine…

There is so much controversy around contemporary dance. Could you offer a definition for those who see just „some disorganized and disarticulated moves”?

The dance- performance- of- today, or contemporary dance is an evolving art, modifying its form and content just like the other arts- of- today, arts that are contemporary with us, be it visual or performative arts. The discourse of the dance- performance- of- today starts prevailingly from the body, but this measure isn’t strict enough either, since it developed dramaturgies and spectacular forms that distance themselves from the quite general sense of entertainment or decorative arts, by broadening the area of befriending with other forms of art, especially with music, visual arts and new technologies.

You said in an interview you have been skydiving. What does this extreme sport offer to a choreographer who knows how to fly on stage and has a very special perception of the surrounding space?

I didn’t jump; I just said that I can’t remember if it was just a dream or if it was real. I was 6 and my father took me with him one afternoon to a military unit where he had something to do as a doctor. There were skydiving trainings in course there. The soldiers were sliding down from a grounded aircraft or helicopter, wearing a harness and a parachute. My father told me later they had given me a small parachute (probably the reserve parachute) and that I made a slip. My memory is of having flown, and it must have been that, because I was small and light and I hardly touched the slide…But yes, I do enjoy letting myself fall into the void, with or without a parachute. But it has to be in the artistic realm, preferably on a stage.

You are the choreographer of two of the performances of this edition of the NTF. What does the choreography express, in each of these?

„Vertigo” is indeed a stunning experience. Working on the topic of forgetting the self, of disconnecting from the body, from the others, in such a poetic and at the same time rough style as Mihai Măniuțiu did, made it at times difficult to resist the intensity. It resembles a bit to the preparation of another performance presented at the NFT, “L’oubli” (2001), written by George Banu, adapted and directed/ as in the case of „Vertigo” / by Mihai Măniuțiu. For “L’oubli”, I was sharing the stage with Sylvain Groud (France) now I dance together with Andrea Gavriliu. In „Vertigo” we are two very different bodies, but these images are transformed and brought to becoming…one.

Another NFT performances I have contributed to is „UbuZdup” directed by Tompa Gabor, a production of the National Theatre Cluj.

What do you fear most, as an artist?

I fear…not to fear any longer.

Where do you escape when you want to escape?

It’s been a while since I can’t understand the term escape any more. I don’t escape that much lately.

You teach dance outside Romania. Do you sense differences in the way your audience and your students perceive you, perceive dance, comparing to how it’s perceived in Romania?

A natural development of contemporary dance, in its multiple present forms, finds a favorable context in the West. Dance is not a rare bird, it’s not necessarily considered an experiment as soon as one approaches a new form, as it happens in our country. Students from the US, France, Germany are trained to “squeeze” the teacher of his entire knowledge, whereas the Romanian vocational education system creates students that are “open mouths” where any kind of information can flow in. It’s hard for a Romanian student to identify valid marks and values in the cultural context he/ she lives in.

When did you have your most intense experiences connected to dance?

Every time I’m on stage. Every time I dance. The most recent was that I mentioned earlier, “Vertigo”, a rare bird. It would be a pity if the Bucharest audiences wouldn’t take advantage now. Otherwise, it’s difficult to get to the „Aureliu Manea” Theatre in Turda, the producer of this performance.

Are you an optimistic or a pessimistic person?

Usually I’m optimistic. Lately, there is a sort of lucidity that transforms this optimism in a sort of considering the positive side of a situation.

How do you care for “the instrument of your labor”, your body? Where there moments when it was put on Failure Mode?

My body is my first interlocutor. I think I care too little for it. I think sometimes my body just feels having had enough of me and sometimes I feel the same (see my performance “After All”, with Carmen Coțofană). Yes, well I think we got accustomed to the snatch style we live in. There were/are many moments of failure situations and these were/are in fact signals of the body I have to listen to and to understand. We get along quite well, we communicate through pain, bumps and…movement.