MARIAZEGNA

NE Dance unfolds in different series: 1.The ones related as being opposed to the western classical ballet dance by the inward rotation the pelvic and scapular girdles. 2. Those performed within the “micro-space” — defined as the space occupied by a body— standing up, without translation, and at different heights (wings, waves, strings); lying down (paused existence) and falling (collapsing); 3) series of micro-movements —repetition of the same movement — with translation (walk, minotaur).
These series constitute “core ideas”, gestures that stand as choreographies on their own. There is no will to make use of these “core ideas” and display them in a process within their multiple possibilities. They just are, without the need of exploiting them. The principle of capitalist development goes hand in hand with concepts such as progress, evolution and conquest. NE values these core ideas as emotional and technical density, not by showing them off but by using them to light up a moment of depth.
Each series is named with its year of creation.

The body of the NE is the actual body, the body that has angst, failure, fault and incompleteness (AFFI). This idea of AFFI body is translated into an inward rotation of the pelvic and scapular girdles, opposite to the western classical ballet dance “en dehors” outward hip rotation. This rotation is noted with a “minus” and translates into feet and arms positions (minus first, minus second, etc.) and into related movements (minus rond de jambe, minus cou de pied, minus grand ecart, minus deboule, etc.).
In brief, minus is one of the core concepts of this language; it represents the body projected in this dance, it points out the emptiness not the completeness, is more a lack than an abundance. This minus also refers to the new foot, in direct dialogue with the classical ballet dance principle of “en pointe”. This is a search for more unstable footholds - when regarding balance- and more broken -when regarding the line-; it rests on the outer edges of the instep and the ridge of the foot, on its back and anterior sides.
The new foot is inclusive, it takes all the possibilities of foot rotation and accordingly of the hip and the extension and bending of its muscles.

The axes organize body posture and therefore they are the alma mater for the construction of the movements the bodies execute.
In classical ballet dance, the axis is the vertical line that crosses the centers of the pelvic and scapular girdle. It goes along the midline of the body at the coccyx level, through the navel, the center of the chest and the center of the head, rising to the sky and beyond - the famous invisible thread. This results in those apparently light movements and a stable equilibrium in constant struggle against gravity.
The contemporary techniques, developed from the mid-twentieth century on, are based on two parallel axes that we can call pathways. These link the points of the heels, ischium and shoulders. So the movement goes along the edges of the joints of the body, deriving in fluid, organic and soft movements, due to the body weight working with and not against gravity.
The NE builds multiple axes; they obliquely counterpose chin, shoulder, hip, knee and feet. Body weight relation to gravity poses a double bond: it uses it when overturning, while there is a force restrain, which in turn results in unstable balance movements and a sense of fragility.

Time in NE, understood as movement duration, is set by breathing and its sound. There is no numerical measure here, temporality will always be subjective because it is set by the performer's breathing, and since everyone has a unique pulmonary capacity hence a unique breathing time. Breathing and its sound are paramount conditions of the movement in the NE; they are part of the notation in the choreographic score. Breathing, sound and emotion are always intimately linked, so much so that we can say that emotionality is the temporal measure of NE.

The bone structure of the body is marked by asymmetries that the NE movement makes evident, articulated in broken and discontinuous ways. The perfume of the movement records that bone fragility and seeks to reveal another beauty; a beauty that inhabits the real body with its sensory and symbolic gaps (anguish), giving account of its incompleteness, failures and faults.

The “r̶e̶p̶r̶e̶-sentation” is the "egoless" movement that is offered to the audience. NE dance is created with the desire to empathize with the real body of the observer. When the performer/dancer empties himself or herself of subjectivity and the movement of the NE goes through his or her body, he or she becomes a channel, transmitting the movement and directing it to the spectator. NE dance intent is to show the existence of a real body, a body that fails (AFFI).

The performer/dancer does not perform a character, does not build an "other self", nor does she present her own self, does not express her individuality, but passes on the NE movement. The performer “r̶e̶p̶r̶e̶-sents” the movement for the other, that is what remains when the performer is emptied of his or her own self.
The body moves, thus, it is possible to share that emotionality with the body of the other, the spectator, because the emotionality is generated by an existential emptiness. This dance does not express nor represents existential pain but movement happens because of that emotionality.

Trans-emotion is the process by which emotions are transferred from one sense to another. Since the performer r̶e̶p̶r̶e̶-sents the egoless movement, so he or she can concentrate on other senses apart from the kinetic, such as flavors and perfumes, that, in turn, will respectively influence shape and speed of movement. We can say that a sweet flavor relates to rounded forms, salty to staccato, bitter to depressive/inward/backward and the acid to sharp forms. The speed of the perfume (volatility and duration), in turn will affect the tempo in a way that the more narcotic the perfume, the slower the movement and the cooler the smell, the faster the movement. Emotions of the senses are shared by all, hence they are intersubjective, and so when we fill up the experience of dance with trans-emotions is another attempt to reach the other/spectator in their shared emotionality.

Since 2000 she has been working as a teacher for the UN and for the cultural extensions of Psychology School, Humanities and Law, all of them depending on the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She has taught seminars at the Instituto Cervantes based in London. She was coordinator of “Corporal Area” of Recreo Foundation and has taught workshops on performance in Mar del Plata, London, Majorca and Madrid. Finally, she has recently given a seminar on "Small object of Desire (the body as object and objects for the body as a device in the performance)" in the postgraduate course of Conceptual Design of the UNTREF.