Luis A Lara Malvacías                       
 

Created by Luis A Lara Malvacías & Jeremy Nelson

Performed by: Luis A Lara Malvacías & Jeremy Nelson

Costumes, Set, and Props: Luis A Lara Malvacías

Music: Ivo Bol

 

„I“ is the seventh work in a series of highly structured improvisational duets: From A to Z. 

 

In „I“ (as in Imprint and In Print), through written, spoken, and embodied language, we delve into memories of past, present, and future using the stage as a large surface or open canvas to be transformed, and fragmented. We looked into the stories "imprinted" in our bodies and our history together as old-queer-creative partners-lovers-dance makers-movers-artists-somatic practitioners, and let the audience observe that on the stage, as in an open book in the process of being printed. We looked into those personal stories concerning everyday life events that have affected and affect us all. Through the process of creating the extended versions for Brussels and Berlin, we studied further the complexity of the letter I and we decided to allow that to drive our research to create a fragmented work informed by those findings. The title of the work itself was modified, changing from "I" in the first version to „I“ in further ones. For instance, to "bend" the verticality - the straightness - of the letter, we decided to create a section based on bending our bodies - in reference to the word "bent" which was a derogatory term for queers in England, while Jeremy lived and studied there. I, the letter, also stands for Innovation, Ideas, Identity, Imagination...as well as for Intolerance, Ignorance, Impunity, Inertia...etc. Immigration and Involvement have been a constant of my work for many years, including prompting the creation of the NOT FESTIVAL project in 2003. Immigrant bodies and their stories are washed away every day in sinking boats, or they drown while trying to reach rivers' edges; the imprinted outline of their bodies on the sand is sometimes the only thing that remains in the collective memory. In the last two versions of „I“ we ended the piece with an open collective dance calling the audience to get involved.

 

Below are excerpts of the three different versions of the piece showing its evolution over the period of research and performance.