conversations in ten questions 16 : Simona Deaconescu (Tangaj Collective)

In this series of interviews we try to get to know the artists of İstanbul Fringe Festival 2020 - Online. Our final guest is Simona Deaconescu from Tangaj Collective.

Ayse Draz, Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Mehmet Kerem Ozel, Writer 

[The Turkish translation of this interview is published on art.unlimited]

Simona Deaconescu, excerpt from a picture of the production "Ciprian Ciuclea", 

copyright: tangajdance.com

What is the essence of theatre/dance in your opinion? How would you define contemporary theatre/dance today? 

 This is a big question that requires a lot of debate. For me, contemporary dance, in all its forms and formats of presentation, is the art that questions aspects related to our reality and how we surf through it, how we mediate it with our bodies. Because is centered on the body, it’s easier to relate to, for audiences in general, while it allows its creators to explore abstract thinking. This way of thinking enables contemporary dance to address a change of perception in people, by focusing on important aspects of our existence, that might pass unobserved in our everyday life. 

Is there any artist whom you can describe as "my master", or any person whom you think influenced your art? And if there is such a person, who is s/he?

No, I don’t have an artist that influenced my art, in the sense of a master. Though, my collaborators (performers, visual artists, composers, dramaturges) have radically influenced my methods of working and changed my vision over the way I relate to the movement of the body. 

When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your works? 

 What inspires me is to think about the evolution of the body and how we position ourselves, as a society to it. My art is in between times, sometimes mixing the past with the future, trying to create a universe in which time deeply influences our reality. Because of this, my pieces tend to have a dream-like atmosphere, in which time flows in a strange way, influencing the dramaturgy and the movement of the performers on stage. Dance is able to shed light on sensations that are “out of the ordinary”, like the ones you experience while dreaming. Reliving the sensorial aspects of my dreams through movement composition, has helped me build works on the bridge of emotional uncertainty and lucid dreaming.

Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? 

 I believe that art has the power to transform from within, because it’s of a fluid nature. But, in my opinion, we need to separate the issue of questioning a state of facts and really solving a problem. Though art can be political or therapeutic in some forms, is always up to the people to transform the society they live in. As an artist I might interrogate our past and present actions, issues that I consider problematic, but I can’t think about art as a way to change the world. That shouldn’t be the responsibility of art.

What does “fringe” mean for you? 

An alternative. To an institution. To a certain aesthetics. To certain cultural politics.

Why did you decide to participate in Istanbul Fringe Festival with this particular work of yours?

“Daughters” is my last piece and dives into the connection between women of the same family across 3 generations – daughter, mother and grandmother. It was created from the point of view of the daughters, the youngest women of this string. I am trying to present this performance in cultural contexts in which it could be debated and challenged. I would like to understand how women across different communities relate to it. I thought Istanbul Fringe Festival would be a great opportunity to do that.

If you had to translate the work you are showing at Istanbul Fringe into a single sentence, what would it be? 

 Three women on roller skates share a collective body with their mothers and grandmothers.

What will be the impact of showing your work on a digital platform/online rather than encountering the audience in physical space/real time? 

 The show has a very specific slow pace intended to induce a state of trance. I am curious to see if the online version of it will be able to put the audience in the same atmosphere. On the other hand, online broadcasting might bring audiences that we could never reach physically, so this type of intercultural exchange is also interesting to me.

How do you think that this pandemic which humanity is facing at a global scale today will transform performing arts in the future? 

 I hope it will make us understand that art and education are as important as health and security. 

  How is the performing arts scene in your country handling/dealing with the challenging conditions posed by the pandemic? 

During the pandemic we could see different attitudes towards culture, coming from different parts of the world. There are countries that have taken very seriously the impact the pandemic had on art. They are working towards helping the industry. But there are other countries, like the one I come from, Romania, in which art remains forgotten, a manifestation that is not seen as fundamental for cultural growth, from the perspective of our political leaders. If government support might help some state funded institutions, the independent art scene remains extremely vulnerable in front of a crisis situation like this.