Of what the dancers of “aquilo…” are made choreographic creation and interpreters’ training in contemporary dance

Abstract

This manuscript intends to discuss the interpreter’s training in contemporary dance, with the purpose of understanding how their participation in the creation of choreographic works can constitute one of the crucial elements in that dancer’s training. For this, a predominantly ethnographic study was conducted, having, as the crucial element of data collection, semistructured interviews with dancers of the Lia Rodrigues Dance Company, during the realization of the show Aquilo de que somos feitos (What we are made of). From the data analysis, the following categories have emerged: from a trained body to an available body; pertaining or not to the “world of dance”; the dancers’ autonomy; pervading the choreography and assuming the work. This study suggests that the dancers’ participation in the creation of the choreographies proportionates a moving body experience which defies the patterns established by the traditional teaching of dance, thus constituting an important pedagogic action for those professionals’ training.