Esther Weitzman Companhia de Dança

POR MINHA PARTE

Poetic and Organic - Por minha parte encloses the public The color of ocher which travels over the newest work of the choreographer from Rio, Esther Weitzman, Por minha parte, that had its first presentation on Thursday at Espaço SESC, seems to be the password to get inside the choreographic universe organised there. One of the strongest characteristic of Esther's signature has always been the relation, almost organic, with the floor, poetically emphasizing the weight of her dancer bodies. Within this work of art, this soil, wholy ocher, is disclosed at the inspiration of the choreographer, the North part of Brazil, translated in the scenery, in the outfits and essencially in the movement itself.
In this way, the ambience, built inside the mezzanine of Espaço SESC, catchs the attention, mainly the rustic floor, made of wood, which, besides registering the dancers' sweat, grimes them along the dance. As the disposition of the bleachers is a circle and very close to the spectators, the acquired spots there seem to mix, organically, the audience to the dance, also close to the delicacy of the whispers and the hugs of the interpreters. An intimacy and connivance are settled within the same field, amid the ones who are dancing and the ones who are watching. Also the outfits, signed by Gerah Diaz, allow the translation of the color of ocher and the soil in the textiles, also rustic, as cotton, but always exact in their elegance of colors and textures.
But, it is in the movement and its quality that Por minha parte is remarkable. There are continuances of the research Esther Weitzman has been dedicating herself, like its relation with the weight, with the body that is moveable, allowing the sound of this movement to be raw matter in order to be handled, like the pair silence/music, with their dramatic concerns. Thus, the soundtrack, played alive by the musical group CRAQUELÊ, at the same time offers evidence of this relation, it ocupies too much room, sometimes, within that ambience so intimate, especially because of its melodically eloquence. It even seems that, in the silence, Esther reachs moments of accuracy and righteousness inside her choreographic thought.
In the dance piece, the choreographer, for the first time, does not take part in it, which, for sure, gives to her work the most refined accomplishment, because of her chance to see it from outside, sculpturing the space in a way so delicate and vigorous at the same time. Hence, even with the maturity so diverse of her five dancers, Esther is engraving on them her vocabulary of movements, a result of years of research. Of course, she has to amalgamate them better, within their movements, for the whole of the interpreters becomes organic with the entirety of the dance piece. Therefore, nothing better than time: the body needs to learn with lull what is entwined there with poetry. Por minha parte, thus, is only a piece of this rich process.
Roberto Pereira - Jornal O Globo - 05/06/05

SONORIDADES
Bringing together both Clarice Lispector's writings and dance's vernacular could very well be Sonoridades' main goal, something which is proficiently accomplished by the Esther Weitzman Cia de Dança. Notwithstanding, and most importantly, Ms. Weitzman goes beyond that. Whereas Clarice Lispector showed stamina through the use of delicate words, Esther Weitzman found the path to lightness through the weight of her writing in space. By searching in the body the nature of her own words, Esther Weitzman presents a valuable advancement in her choreographic vernacular, proof of a richer and more mature syntax, with her ever more recognizable signature imprinted in the bodies which accompany her in this creative movement.
Beatriz Cerbino - Dance Reviewer and Researcher

TERRAS
"The exile is at the core of TERRAS, of Esther Weitzman. The choreographer bases her piece on a strong sense of ensemble and breathing together. The group displacements gain a sense of itinerant territory while individual elements move forth and back. Esther has, in the use of space, the strong aspect of this work."
Silvia Soter - 01/11/1999 - Jornal O Globo

"The serious and clear movement research on the themes she wishes to approach makes the difference between choreographic creation and the repetition of old formulas. The bill with her two works is efficient in creating a small universe of people in movement on Earth, specially women obliged to constantly choosing new directions and rhythms, but whose small gestures still remind us of bread baking and motherhood. The Jewish imagery serves just as the basis to approach the exile and , in this sense, the piece speaks also for the Brazilian homeless, the Palestinians and for all those who are constrained to moving."
Nayse López - 16/12/00 - Jornal do Brasil

"Esther's professional career doesn't present an unique formal technical system, in her modus operandi, though it's possible to recognize an intense and expressive physical materiality, able to process body synthesis of her own authorship."
Valeria Cano Bravi - Curator
Rumos Itaú Cultural Dança

Sonia Sobral - Núcleo de Artes Cênicas São Paulo
Fevereiro/2001

TERRITÓRIOS

Open Territories for Male Expression

Eight dancers. Eight Men. Eight different territories. That is the scene which is built within the new work of the choreographer Esther Weitzman, Territories, recently staged on Teatro Nelson Rodrigues and on Espaço Cultural Sérgio Porto and now, it is on Centro Coreográfico. A Dance, which is strictly male and at the same time absolutely contemporary, creates the opportunity to glaze upon the strength on how Esther's movement vocabulary finds a safe stand point within those bodies.

The dancers, especially invited for the work, accepted the challenge of being together on stage, but never building up only one body, as a group, in Ballet Dance with what we are used to. Those are bodies with several histories, with muscle and kinetic qualities so unique that they offer themselves as maps of Dance always plural. The whole range of these physical possibilities were wisely thought by the choreographer, who manages different maturities (and, because of this, competences) through using the idea of tradition.

This can be seen at the very beginning, when "escravos de Jó", a Brazilian children game, is brought into scene. The sense of responsibility to make the game succeed, from an individual contribution which heads towards the collective, draws the north of the choreography on the way to this tradition. The references to Jewish dances, raw material which has been being polished by Esther since Terras, her choreography from 1999, reaches the dimension of the male body, rooting itself more and more in this sense of tradition. A tradition of today, pulverized, diverse, globalized. A contemporary tradition.

And from these very especial moments arise, like the ones that offer the privilege to show such an experienced interpreter as Alexandre Franco dancing, a dancer and a choreographer who has got the whole thought of Dance rather well established, besides the young, and excellent, Felipe Padilha. Two places so fulfilled with singularities are, there, revealed. Or else, when we are able to see the maturity with which the dancers Marcellus Ferreira and Marcelo Lopes gives to the scene their parts of history, in such a generous way.

The territories unmasked through Esther Weitzman's choreography are there at the same time in a raw and prompt status. The rhythmic movements, the silences and the group dances, elements which are the trade mark in Esther's work, reached, now, a vigorous translation on the male bodies. And they do stir up the hope that these territories, without loosing their tradition and their history, can share, one day, the same space. It is that what is said by this Dance.
Roberto Pereira - Jornal do Brasil- caderno B- 11/08/2006

POR MINHA PARTE

Por minha parte engage le public
"La couleur ocre qui traverse la plus nouvelle oeuvre de la chorégraphe Esther Weitzman Por minha parte, qui a eu sa première jeudi dernier au Espaço SESC, semble être le code d´accès pour qu´on puisse entrer dans l´univers chorégraphique qui s´y organise. L´une des plus fortes charactéristiques de la signature de Weitzman a toujours été celle de la rélation presque organique avec le sol, en accentuant d´une manière poétique le poids des corps de ses danseurs. Dans cette oeuvre, ce sol tout ocre est dévoilé dans l´inspiration de la chorégraphe, la région nord du Brésil, traduite dans le décor, les costumes et surtout dans le propre mouvement.
Dans ce sens, il nous attire l´attention l´ambiance construite dans le mezzanine de l´Espaço SESC, surtout le sol rustique, en bois, le quel, au delà de registrer la transpiration des danseurs, les souille au long du spectacle. Comme la disposition du public est dans un cercle et très proche, les taches qui s´y forment semblent mélanger organiquement le public avec la danse, le raprochant aussi de la délicatesse des murmures et des accolades des danseurs. Une intimité et une complicité s´arrangent dans un même terrain, entre ce qui danse et ce qui assiste. (...)
Mais c´est dans le mouvement et dans sa qualité que Por minha parte brille. On y trouve des continuités de la recherche à laquelle Weitzman se dedicace depuis longtemps, celle de la rélation avec le poids, avec le corps qui se meut, en laissant le son des mouvements comme la matière brute à être traitée, avec le pair silence/musique, avec sa dramaticité. (...)
Il semble être dans le silence que Weitzman aboutit des moments de précision, de justesse de sa pensée chorégraphique. (....)
Roberto Pereira - Jornal do Brasil- caderno B- 05/06/2005

Voyage musical d'un certain Brésil, un " pays imaginaire ".
" Por minha parte " La plus récente des créations de " Esther Weitzman companhia de dança " clôture ce soir sa saison à la Mezzanine de l'espace Sesc. Cette nouvelle création doit être vue comme un pas significatif dans le cheminement chorégraphique de l'artiste, chemin initié en 1999 avec " Terras ". Comme dans la précédente création, c'est la force du collectif qui construit le terrain pour la danse.
La chorégraphe se rapproche d'un certain Brésil, un " pays imaginaire ", comme elle l'explique dans son programme. La musique vigoureuse de Craquelê et les beaux costumes de Gera Dias aident à construire la " brasilidade ", qui par la danse se matérialise. Esther Weitzman a aménagé la mezzanine de l'Espaço Sesc en arène ( L'Espaço Sesc est un espace destiné à la danse et récemment incorporé aux scènes de la ville de Rio) . Le sol, couleur de terre, nous fait penser aux " terreiros " où l'on danse habituellement les danses populaires .Où qu'il soit placé dans les gradins, le spectateur voit la danse et voit aussi obligatoirement le public. Le choix d'avoir monté cette scène ainsi aide à créer des frictions entre la danse scénique, dans laquelle la scène et les spectateurs sont séparés, et la danse populaire où nous n'avons pas cette distinction. La façon dont les 5 danseurs entrent en scène souligne encore cet aspect : ils surgissent de chaque part des gradins, s'alignant ainsi avec le public, pour ensuite seulement, occuper le centre de la scène.

" Por minha Parte " revisite les figures d'autres créations
Dans " Por minha parte " Esther revisite des figures et des cellules chorégraphiques de ses créations précédentes. Ainsi elle inscrit sa nouvelle création dans une trajectoire marquée par le passé et les récurrences. L'utilisation du sol comme superficie qui attrait et accueille le corps entier, les frappements rythmés des pieds et des mains au sol soulevant la poussière et les gestes caressant la terre se retrouvent dans cette création. Le silence entrecoupé par la régularité des percussions du corps sur le sol est toujours là, sauf que cette fois ci, ce silence dialogue avec la musique " live " du groupe Craquelê. A certains moments, elle oublie d'accompagner la chorégraphie, elle gagne le premier plan, et ainsi fait surgir la danse différemment, plus fluide, plus simple, évoquant de nouveau les danses populaires brésiliennes.
La réapparition d'éléments déjà travaillés dans ses créations antérieures ne signifie en aucun cas, " congélation ". C'est avec des doigts de fée qu'Esther coud ses diverses références aux nouveaux éléments . Cette base d'éléments s'offre comme un territoire fertile où la danse d'Esther se déploie et se renouvelle.
Silvia Soter - Jornal O Globo