In conversation with... Guy Nader | Maria Campos - Riley Theatre
 

We spoke with Barcelona-based ensemble Guy Nader & Maria Campos ahead of the UK premiere of their work Time Takes The Time Time Takes, arriving at Riley Theatre on Saturday 28 September.

First things first, how are you?

We are quite satisfied and happy about how our career is going. It always feels nice when you receive all these recognitions for your work, for example in the form of prestigious prizes, but especially when it comes in the form of a tour.

It’s so inspiring for us and our artistic development to meet so many different people and artists in different countries, cultures and contexts. Even though sometimes it can be a bit stressful to have so much work and no time to rest and disconnect a bit, at the end of the day the satisfaction after each performance is so immense that it makes you forget all the effort you made. It also makes you realise that the effort is needed, because the only way to work is to work hard.

What can you tell us about your inspirations for Time Takes The Time Time Takes?

At a certain moment in our collaboration, we both found ourselves shifting towards a very specific interest in our approach to movement, after so many years of exploring in Time Takes The Time Time Takes. We became very inspired by physics, physical principals and physical phenomenons, which we try to apply within very concrete physical tasks.

The image of a pendulum was the main trigger behind this piece, and the use of weight is a key quality in our choreography, as well as an intrinsic, persistent element in the work – it transformed from the movement itself and became a very concrete dramaturgical approach. Obviously in our latest works our interest kept on turning back to the concept of time and space, where the compositional aspect is very present and it deals with certain elements of minimalism such as repetition, loops, scores and musicality.

How important are music and sound to the piece?

In Time Takes The Time Time Takes, the musician brings to the piece its pulse; he’s simply another performer. With his recorded scores which he plays the drum on top of, he follows us in this journey, and while we become the visual score and landscape of the idea, he also becomes the soundscape of this ongoing journey. Apart from bringing the energy and vibration to us and to the audience, his presence reminds us of an orchestral conductor too.

How has the work changed since its first performance? What has the process been like?

Naturally all works and pieces of choreography chance and grow from the day of its first premiere to when it starts to roll and tour. Lots of other layers appear, especially in the way of performing it and the understanding of its construction – the performance little by little starts to breathe smoothly and differently. This type of work, which specifically requires a lot of technique, concentration and complicity because of its high precision and risk, gained solidity and trust over time, which obviously affects the whole performance. Of course, it’s all a question of time: Time Takes The Time Time Takes.

In Time Takes The Time Time Takes you are both choreographers and performers. How do you feel about inhabiting both roles?

Since we started collaborating together, we both always followed on the same level the preparation period, research, creation of the material etc. The fact that we are ourselves dancers means that we directly embody the concepts and ideas into a concrete physical approach, because we also think through our body and our movement knowledge. Together in the studio, we invested lots of time into understanding both levels: the theory and the practice.

It was easier of course when we did duets together, and more complex when we started to do group pieces where we are both dancing in them. But we step outside most of the time, alternating this method between both of us. What helped us too was to film all the rehearsals and watch them afterwards.

What can audiences expect?

Time Takes The Time Time Takes is a journey of movement conversation, of complicity and group collaboration, of precision, breathtaking movement and risk, that drives the audience into a certain hypnotic mode while also transmitting lots of energy.

 

 

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