WAITING ROOM. Alejandra Jara
Choreographer, mother and teacher over 40, but still a dancer.
I am Alejandra Jara and my goal was to invigorate my life as a dancer by the research of a solo piece for film and also to keep developing my Movement Research class. Both of these objectives where achieved. I was able to focus on my solo work where I managed my own time for training, movement research, video, photography, writing, location and music research for the video shooting.
For the video, I created a short film called Waiting room. This piece is about the moment in a person’s life when there are decisions to make, together with the moment in suspense we find ourselves when we are waiting for a positive or negative result present in our lives. The moment before finding out if we might have a terminal disease, the moment when we wait to know if we passed a test, or the moment we are waiting for the positive or negative line of a pregnancy test. There are many moments like this in life. We are constantly making decisions of something we can control and some things we cannot. But most importantly we ALL experience these sensations no matter what culture, age, language, country. Those seconds of life where we can picture our lives thinking the worst or the best of the scenarios. This was my goal of the piece. To explore what is underneath the emotion we show and what can be really happening in our inside, while using the visual support of video and location. With that in mind and with a lot of research on the right location I found the exhibition of Katharina Hinsberg – Still Lines, showed in Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach. The exhibition captured my attention and perfectly complemented my idea for a dance film. I reached out to Hinsberg, expressing my desire to use her installation for the film, and to my delight, she agreed. This collaboration was significant to me because it involved support from a different art field, which ultimately enhanced both of our projects. It’s worth noting that I met Mrs. Hinsberg at a workshop organized by Frauenkulturbüro, a group that supports artists with children – a particularly relevant detail given the topic that inspired my research: Mother/dancer.
In addition, I took part of the Pilates Training Education to gain a deeper understanding of the training method, its teaching principles, and associated benefits. By delving deeper into the more structured and rigorous approach of Pilates, I gained valuable knowledge of anatomy and new possibilities for incorporating it into my own class. This experience has encouraged me to consider the potential for combining the more movement-based aspects of my class with the structure of other strengthening exercises.
In conclusion, the process was enriching for me in an artistic and educational way. Both areas work together and it is important to value and keep both alive. Especially after a certain age, I do believe that being a dancer is still possible and we shouldn’t let common expectations get in our way. We should find the right training that fits our bodies if we want to continue dancing, and even if we don’t, and just want to be active in our bodies. There are so many possibilities out there. As for me, I am learning that the perfect training is one that allows you to move, enjoy and strengthen at the same time, opening up possibilities of what you CAN do instead of what you can’t do. We can push ourselves and improve in our efforts and going beyond our own limits with generosity and availability of movement.
