conversations in ten questions 71: Polina Ionina

©Kenneth Morton 

Celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, the Istanbul Fringe Festival, which took place between 16th - 23rd September, presented innovative and alternative shows in theatre, dance and performance from Turkey and around the world, as well as workshops and panels. 

This week's guest is The How Theatre, an international ensemble of movement artists, actors and musicians based in New York. The How's mission is to create a space where audiences and artists can be challenged by a variety of perspectives, forms and stories. The company members believe in taking the emotional warmth of the world and manifesting it in physical form, breaking convention. Experimenting theatrically and involving musicians in their work, The How Theatre presented My Favorite Person at the festival, a two-person movement theatre piece that explores the dynamics of relationships between men and women using space, form and sound. Now it's time for our interview with the its director, Polina Ionina.

What is the essence of performance in your opinion? 

The essence of performance is presence. If we are present, then we have the chance to strip down to our most truthful essence. When do we get a chance to truly do this other than in performance? We have a hard time being that vulnerable in everyday life. Allowing oneself to be present in performance creates an intimate connection between the performer and the audience. It is in this space that magic happens. In this space we can show our true selves and truly see each other. It is in this space that we can inspire and celebrate each other. 

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

Absolutely. Art has the power to change one’s perspective on the world. When I was a little girl, I remember seeing my first performance, a dance show. I remember going into the theater as one person, and coming out of the theater completely new, changed forever by what I saw. Any art has the power to change someone’s perspective, and sometimes change their life. This transformative power of art has something to do with the energy that surrounds a piece of art, I think. It somehow gets transferred to or inhaled by the audience and the people working on the show. 

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

When working on a piece, I am most inspired by the people who I am working with—my team. They inspire me endlessly. I wholeheartedly believe that every human has unique gifts, and one of my greatest joys is to collaborate with these unique gifts. 

When I decided to create My Favorite Person, in the middle of the pandemic, I knew that I had to work with Tana Sirois and David Lawrence Glover, even though they had never worked together before. Our first rehearsal was the first time that they had moved together. The energy of the room was inimitable. As soon as I saw them in improvisation, it was like something set ablaze. I already knew the caliber of their art, but upon seeing their first interactions, I knew this was on another level. The vulnerability, honesty, dedication, and trust that they so naturally gave was truly a gift for any director. Tana has this tenderness and raw emotion in her movements and David has such a sincerity and joy that is hard to describe. My assistant director on this project, Veronika Vozniak has such a keen eye to the things I cannot see. The way she sees space and movement is pristine. I am so absolutely grateful that Tana, David, and Veronika are my collaborators on this piece and that we get to evolve this show together. Pure inspiration is endless with them. I respect and admire them deeply. 

I additionally am incredibly inspired by the work of Dimitris Papaioannou, Ivan Viripaev, Dada Masilo, Anais Maviel and others. 

I have a particular relationship with dreams. There is a space right between being awake and asleep where a lot of the ,“work”, happens for me. I often get these images or ideas right before I fall asleep. These ideas will come to me much later again, and it always feels like deja vu. There is something quite magical about those moments. 

When do you decide to give a title to a work you are working on if it already does not have one? 

I feel that the piece chooses the title itself, whenever it’s ready. The title of “My Favorite Person” came to me quite suddenly, actually, when I was watching a concert by a dear friend of mine. It felt like this title fell upon me, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Some other pieces start with a title first, and then the idea comes. It is always different for every show. 

Are there any artist or person whom you think influenced your art most? And if there is such an artist or person, who?

More than any artist or person, it is the environment I am in that influences me in my work. I was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan and was very much encouraged by my mother to create on my own. There was a lot of time that I spent alone when I was younger, kind of left to my own devices. What I loved to do with that time was to just observe the environment I was in. We had this incredible garden, filled with so many flowers, fruit trees, and raspberry bushes. I observed every detail in that garden. I knew every leaf, every stone, every habit of the family cat and dog. I think this had a huge influence on me to observe where I was and perhaps reflect it in what I made. Of course, as any child, I started making up a lot of stories in that garden. I wrote them down too (although I didn’t yet know how to write). So, my mum would come home to me scribbling. Ever since, I have let my surroundings give way to my imagination. It’s always exciting to look at how the grass moves or to see how a person walking by raises their hand to tuck a strand of hair behind their ear and know that those simple, everyday moments can really influence the work. 

When you consider the current state of the world in every sense, what is the most important and urgent issue for you as an artist? 

We live in a very compelling time. In every sense, we are going through massive changes. And the issues in the world only get more and more complicated, and more and more scary for us as humans. It is, of course, extremely important to focus on issues such as war, climate change, human rights, sexual politics, etc; there is no debate. I do think, however, that there is something huge disappearing in our world: true connection between people. With social media, and the rise of AI and technology as a whole, there is little impetus for people to really seek out connection. I find that it is easy for folks to shout into the void of the internet and comment on each other left and right, and yet people have such trouble actually speaking to each other in person. It is only among artist friends that I see people debating hard topics and challenging each other’s opinion without the fear of offending each other or being “canceled.” So, connection between people is a huge focus in my work, and something I find to be truly important to the present. Through listening to one another and really seeing each other we can change the world in some small way—it is an active, real thing that we can achieve. 

Could you please elaborate on how you conceived of the idea of working on My Favorite Person which explores the dynamics of a relationship between two people through the use of space, form and sound; and could you please explain how you make use of these elements (space/form/sound) in the performance? 

My Favorite Person was born from a heartbreak that completely shattered my world. It took me completely by surprise and destroyed everything I thought was true. And after a long period of grief and confusion, I had realized that in the time of the relationship, I had been forsaking myself completely. I didn’t even know that this forsaking was happening. It was as if, after this break up, I had awoken to the realization that I had been entirely focused on my partner and us as a unit, and had completely forgotten myself. From this self abandonment and the desperate need to find, “Polina”, again, I had the idea to explore this grief the best way I knew how. After I assembled my team, we all realized that each of us had gone through immense heartbreak closely together. So, you can say that My Favorite Person is four hearts all poured into one. 

We explore the beginning of the end of a relationship in this piece. The dynamics are traversed through moments of connection, moments of distance, moments of intimacy and pretense. We create a particularly intimate space that can support such an exploration. 

There is no language utilized in this piece, only body language. Form becomes incredibly important to convey all the minutiae of the story and the emotional journey of the piece. The manifestation of gesture and emotion brings the audience in. It feels like you’re right there with the characters, going through everything with them. 

Sound plays a huge role in the piece. You can say that it is almost another character. We had a few composers work on the music. Luke Bergstedt and Tyler Agnew worked on separate moments and created such a potent soundscape, sometimes working with what is happening on stage, and other times working against it. We additionally asked many of our loved ones, dear friends and family, to contribute sound recordings of them talking about what love is. Since the piece doesn’t use language in a conventional sense of the word, these recordings provide a kind narration, which gives us a different perspective on love. 

This piece is relatable to anyone in a romantic relationship, not just a man and a woman, but to anyone who has ever loved. 

If you had to translate My Favorite Person into a single sentence, what would that sentence be? 

I think Tana Sirois put it best: This piece asks the question: in a romantic relationship, how much of yourself must you abandon to be loved unconditionally by your favorite person? 

What does ‘Fringe’ signify for you? 

Fringe gives artists a chance to depart from what is mainstream, conventional performance. This is huge because it gives us encouragement to experiment and to present new ideas. Fringe is a significant sharing of minds and hearts. It is a chance for us to see what work is out there and enter into the collective conversation. Fringe is a collaboration. Fringe is an opportunity to come together from the corners of the world and to find the collective, creative pulse. 

What would you like to say to the Istanbul fringe audience?

I would like to express gratitude and appreciation for being selected, heard, and understood. We are so absolutely excited to share this work with you. We are all truly proud of this piece and want to share it with as many humans as possible. I thank you for the fact that I get to share this work and that it has been received with such grace and privilege. I thank you for giving me the space and time to feel vulnerable on stage, and for the courage to continue creating this work. If you’d like to take a look at what we are up to, please feel free to take a look at the company’s website: www.thehow.nyc or follow us on instagram @thehow.nyc

[The Turkish version of this interview was published in unlimited.]