Daniel Navarro Lorenzo
Video
Project
#STATE
A choreography & film by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo
Music by Adrian Blezien Pérez
100 Participants
60 Videos
25 Countries
1 World
1 Message
D A N C E
"A beautiful collaboration"
Kelly Apter, dance critic
This was art at it's best: bringing people together in a shared experience, enlightening, awakening and creating beauty from disparate parts sown lightly by a vision, a spirit for a better world.
Barry Kostrinsky ATOA President
Screening & Events
-16/10/21 at Fiver Dance Film Festival, Sala Negra Teatros del Canal Madrid, Spain
-29/04 to 2/05 at Pause by Leverage Dance Theatre, St Louis, USA
-28/04/21 at ScreenDance Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
-18/01/21 ATOA Artist Talk On Art, New York City, USA
-15th to 18th October Aberdeen Art Gallery DANCELIVE fest 2020, Aberdeen, UK
-13/09/20 WildDogs International Screendance Festival 2020, Canada
-13/08/20 19pm Byre@Home, The Byre Theatre, St Andrews, UK
-29/07/20 @Home The Byre Theatre. St Andrews, UK
This is a short film of approx 12min so I recommend you to sit down with a cup of tea, preferable with a big screen (tv/Mac/pc not phone) and high volume, disconnect from the outside world, Sign up and enjoy the film.
This project is unfunded so if you would like to make any DONATION to support my work, I would be super grateful.
You can support my work via Paypal by Donation here or like my film and subscribe to my Youtube Channel.
Video Project #STATE
Review by Kelly Apter The Scotsman national Scottish newspaper
Video Project #STATE was presented in ATOA Artist Talk On Art in New York City (USA),
on the 18th of January 2021
"was a moving presentation and film with great dialogue from several of the dancers and of course Dan and Adrian as the ATOA hosted our 40th Monday talk during these difficult times"
Barry Kostrinsky
The Idea
Video Project #STATE 🏴 is the project I made during lockdown with my wish to connect people from around the world with my choreography, a fragile geography: STATE. Featuring and premiering the music by Adrian Blezien Pérez "la follia divina" and "La unión hace la fuerza" plus 60 beautiful dancers from 25 different countries from USA to Singapore, from Hong Kong to UK, from Argentina to India and more connected by the dance and dancing “STATE”
Italy 🇮🇹, Australia 🇦🇺, Scotland 🏴, Mexico 🇲🇽, Lithuania 🇱🇹, Chile 🇨🇱, USA 🇺🇸, Hong Kong 🇭🇰, Russia 🇷🇺, England 🏴, India 🇮🇳, Spain 🇪🇸, Singapore 🇸🇬, Canada 🇨🇦, Argentina 🇦🇷, Philippines 🇵🇭, Malta 🇲🇹, Sweden 🇸🇪, Norway 🇳🇴, Germany 🇩🇪, Israel 🇮🇱 , Czech Republic 🇨🇿 , France 🇫🇷, Wales 🏴, China 🇨🇳.
We are all living through a new international experience and I want to show how connected we can still be - we might be remote physically but we can still connect virtually. Despite the circumstances we can still dance together internationally.
ABOUT my work in progress:
I started to develop this new section of my project A Fragile Geography, last year 2019 during my residency at CND (Compañia Nacional de Danza, Madrid,Spain) and The Work Room (Glasgow, UK) and future support from Citymoves (Aberdeen, UK) and Dance Base (Edinburgh, UK). I had the pleasure to be researching material at the studio with the amazing dancers and artist Laura García Aguilera and Maria Palliani.
a fragile geography:STATE synopsis:
In a State controlled by power, money and fear, citizens believe they enjoy a freedom that they do not really possess. The way they move, cry, smile and wait does not belong to them anymore. Emotion does not exist, there is no place for it. Two people perform their show, twice a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Their movements are robotic, mechanical, there is nothing they can control because they control nothing: they have become automatons. The only thing that seems to be able to release them are the memories in which human emotion seems to be discovered through the traditional dance of previous generations that have already left.
Music by the violinist Adrian Blezien Pérez,
"la follia divina" and "La unión hace la fuerza"
A question to the dancers involved.
Tell me a bit how this Choreography STATE made you feel with your current situation
Dancing this piece was challenging for me because it is so different from dancing in the studio. There is a lot more chaos in the household which made it harder for me to break out of self-consciousness and work with the space I have, and it was harder for my imagination to take over. I feel like it is really similar to the many things happening in the world right now... although I am happy here in my own state/country, I feel the pain of people from all over the world, especially in America with the recent murder of George Floyd. That, coupled with the internal struggles I experienced with myself in trying to work through this piece and the demanding movements, gave me more strength and determination to push through and film my own version of STATE. It's not the best and it can be improved on so much more, but I think it's the power behind the journey itself that inspired me the most.
Shu QI, Singapore
I actually treated this work as an escape to my current reality because the "new normal" is just really taking a toll on my current mental state and well being (especially because I'm alone). I also used this as an outlet to release my anger and frustration towards the political issues and protests happening back in my home country at the moment, because it sucks realizing that I'm here overseas while I have no idea how to help my fellow countrymen who are dying from unacceptable reasons apart from just Covid19 alone. Somehow too, doing this made me feel like I'm somehow one with the rest of the Filipino artists currently being silenced and prosecuted for using their freedom of speech and creativity.
Reneejo Euriel V. Lascano, Santa Rosa, Philippines
I wanted to be involved in the project because it’s a way of connect with other people, it’s solidarity in times where we may feel alone. We are isolated from each other physically but we can all move together. We have a language that we can all share even through a screen. It’s such a beautiful thing. The project in ways was frustrating because I didn’t have much space in my flat to move as much as I wanted and I also didn’t have the energy from the choreographer being right there with me, so I had to find even more energy from myself. I am grateful for the challenge of the project and the effort you put in Dan. You gave us energy and a wonderful opportunity to connect, from far apart.
Olivia Roach, Glasgow Scotland
Coronavirus epidemic continues to cause stress and anxiety worldwide. Social distancing comes at a great price for both artists and audiences.
Initially, I identify with the feeling of helplessness and being overwhelmed. I realised that in a lot of ways our government has immense control over our way of living.
The pandemic has cause me to be more resilient in the face of limited agency through the understanding and acceptance of my artistic expressions.
Alvin Toh Quanyong from Sidney, Australia
Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece with us and it was actually felt like the state of mind I’m in currently.
More than my country , I connected to this piece with my state of mind at this moment where I’m trying to make peace with myself and regain my confidence that I’m not alone in journey of uncertainty
Nidhi Baadkar from India based in Toronto, Canada
Inside of me there are a lot of kinds of traditions but for me Italy is my real house.
At the same time there are also negative aspects that we have to improve but The perfection don’t exist.
When I saw your project I found a good idea to connect all countries together in this bad dream.
I just Want to say thank you because also the workshop was fantastic with a beatiful energy.
Jane Llaha Olmeda Florence, Italy
well, I think that the community of dancers has no boundaries like states have because dancers all speak the language of the body.
Hugo Mercier from Malta
I loved dancing this. At the moment, I find the concept of states very oppressive. The pandemic traps me in a state that is not mine. On the other hand my country and my loved ones in it are also in critical equilibrium. And we spend our time waiting for the states to wave a magic wand and free us from this madness. But sometimes the states are as clueless and powerless as the individuals, and are just as trapped and frustrated as us. That is what I felt when I was dancing it, that helplessness of being trapped and lead from a to b to c by well-meaning but sometimes clueless states.
Liza Malong from London, UK
"STATE a meaningful choreography by Dan Navarro Lorenzo, tells a story of how we slowly relinquish the sense of nationalism amidst this pandemic, but the choreography conveys a resolve to stand and fight.
In my country, no matter how good or bad the situation gets, I will always choose to love my HOME.
A nation with courage and a strong heart to stand and fight will certainly succeed in any kind of crisis.
So we, as one global community connected through this dance, express that wherever you are, choose to stand and fight because all of these are temporary."
Sherwin Santiago, Baguio City, Philippines
About the country I identify with, well, I'm definitely French in many ways but I also identify to other countries and cultures and I think we all have so much to share. Also I felt even more connected to other parts of the world with the current situation. Let's say I like to be a citizen of the world! haha
It was the first time I really danced since the start of the lockdown and it felt really good, to reconnect with my body that way, and feel the freedom that it gives.
Because of the current context and situation, the steps and the different energies of the choreography made me think about the different ways you can manage a complicated situation. Accept, observe, fight, let go, resist, be kind, be tough...
Laura Marcou from Bordeaux, France
I really enjoyed the workshop! Relating the piece to my country (Singapore), I felt both pride and fear - pride because of all the things that Singapore has and is doing well in, and fear because of the censorship and self-censorship that is prevalent here. Specifically for the current situation, my fear also stems from the uncertainty of everything as well as how and when life will return to normal.
Yeo Kai Qing Joanne, Singapore
Estoy en Chile en este momento, por eso puse Chile, la verdad es muy dificil para mi decir cual es mi "estado" o "nacionalidad" ya que soy Argentina, crecí en Chile y hace un par de años que trabajo y vivo en Europa, moviéndome entre distintos países. Con esto del Virus es que volví a casa de mis padres a Chile.
Sol Dugatkin from Santiago, Chile
The STATE when I am performing makes me feel very powerful inside, it's like a struggle between the inner world and the outer world, there is a desire to strive to break free.
During the epidemic period, our inner emotions are complex, which is a confrontation between positive and negative, a rational and emotional journey, just like some flashes of power in the dance, which is a state of mind that contains entanglement and expectation at present.
Yuxi Jiang from Xiamen, China
I spent 6 weeks in quarantine in Scotland before being able to travel to Brazil to be with my (Brazilian) husband. That journey was the most surreal and scary experience but of course worth it to be here... But life here in João Pinheiro is a million miles away from the situation in Scotland. There is no lockdown here. It’s life as normal but with a very real sense of fear that this virus exists and could enter this community at any minute. A community which could not handle an outbreak. There is no ICU in the hospital here and the city only has 4 ventilators, if the virus spreads here it will be devastating... As it is in other cities in Brazil. However, in spite of this everything here is open, shops, restaurants etc, people still work and meet up, only everyone wears masks outside. It was very overwhelming to enter that after 6 weeks of solitude in Edinburgh. But the sunshine and warmth of the people here keeps everyone’s spirits lifted amidst the fear. Participating in this workshop and learning the choreography felt wonderful... glorious to move and to feel connected to all these other dancers around the world. It’s a beautiful and ambitious project and I am delighted and proud to participate. Usually I would be overly critical and try over and over and over again - but this project and its intention felt much bigger and more important than my own overly critical mindset of dancing. And that’s the most liberating experience I’ve had in a long time. Thank you for that.
Joanne Pirrie from Edinburgh, Scotland
#dreamteam international cast
Claudia Crispino (Napoli, Italy)
Jack Anderson (Glasgow, Scotland)
Jackie Tamayo (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Maria Palliani (Rome, Italy)
Niels Claes (Klaipeda Lithuania)
Jane Llaha Olmeda (Florence, Italy)
Sol Dugatkin (Santiago, Chile)
Thania Acaron (Cardiff Wales)
Christine He (Hong Kong)
Svetlana Malinina (Moscow, Russia)
Katie Taylor (Aberdeen, UK)
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan (Bangalore, India)
Oscar Rodriguez Soriano (Barcelona, Spain)
Chang Kai Wen (Singapore)
Kimberley Chia (Singapore)
Joanne Yeo (Singapore)
Angela Wilson (London, UK)
Cheryl Goh (Singapore)
Gwynne Bilski (Glasgow, Scotland)
Yuxi Jiang (Xiamen China)
Roberto Lazzari (Venice, Italy)
Masha Ugrozova (London, UK)
Aina Joaniquet (Barcelona, Catalonia)
Francesca Fogliano (Naples, Italy)
Farners Salmeron Mir (Barcelona, Catalonia)
Joel Wilson (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Laia Gomez Redondo (Barcelona, Spain)
Jennifer Elise Steele (Glasgow, Scotland)
Serena Micalizzi-Coyle (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Nidhi Baadkar (Toronto, Canada)
Martina Gastaldi (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Liza Malong (London, UK)
Sherwin Santiago (Baguio City, Philippines)
Tejaswini Loundo (Goa, India)
Andrada Dragoescu (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Hugo Mercier (Malta)
Xenres Kirishima (Singapore)
Grace Keeble (London, UK)
Anna Borràs (Malmö, Sweden)
Maybelle Lek (Singapore)
Alvin Toh Quanyong (Sydney, Australia)
Amulya Ravikumar (Bangalore, India)
Miriam Hammersland (Oslo, Norway)
Josefine Patzelt (Köln, Germany)
Olivia Roach (Glasgow, Scotland)
Mao Wei (Hong Kong)
Ishai Karasenti (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Amber Dollin (Glasgow, Scotland)
Cymone Woo (Singapore)
Alyssandra Wu (San Francisco, USA)
Anagha Kashyap (Bangalore, India)
Anna Jirmanova (Šumperk, Czech Republic)
Amruth Holla (Bangalore, India)
Laura Marcou (Bordeaux, France)
Au Shu Qi (Singapore)
Reneejo Euriel Lascano (Santa Rosa, Philippines)
Xuedanyang Wang (Guiyang, China)
Joanne Pierrie (Glasgow, Scotland)
Jeanne Morel (Paris, France)
Carrissa Ting (Singapore)
Watch postcard from each dancers from around the world
This project is unfunded so if you would like to make any DONATION to support my work, I would be super grateful.
You can support my work via Paypal by Donation here: