Avatâra Ayuso is a Choreographer and the Artistic Director of AVA Dance Company. Originally from Majorca, Avatâra is now based in the UK. The interview deals with two projects on which she has collaborated with Border Crossings. The first was NO WOMAN'S LAND, a dance duet with Inuk woman Naulaq LeDrew, which was shown at The Place as part of ORIGINS 2019. The second was a co-production between Border Crossings, AVA Dance, and bsolomon//ELECTRIC MOOSE, made for the 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival in Birmingham: REMEMBRANCES. In the interview, Avatâra discusses the complex nature of intercultural collaboration, the importance of research and relationship-building, and the processes through which dance, poetry music and ceremony came together in REMEMBRANCES.
Maria da Luz Ghoumrassi has a background as a dancer and choreographer and is originally from Portugal / Cape Verde. She has worked with Border Crossings regularly since 2017, when she was part of the devising process for THE GREAT EXPERIMENT. She went on to be Movement Director for that piece, THE MOUTH OF THE GODS and SUPPLIANTS OF SYRIA. In this interview, she discusses her journey from more hierarchical processes, through engagement with ORIGINS events, towards a choreographic practice that is, like all of Border Crossings' work, rooted in the participants themselves and their own cultures.
Denise Namura and Michael (Micha) Bughdan are the Joint Artistic Directors and Choreographers of Company À Fleur de Peau, which they founded in 1988, in Paris. This interview is conducted in French, with English subtitles. Denise and Micha first worked with Border Crossings as part of the Laboratory, and went on to be Movement Directors for RE-ORIENTATIONS and the associated work in Shanghai and London. The interview explores this long and detailed development process from the point of view of physical artists, exploring cultural differences, collaboration and dance as a constituent part of theatre.
