A working process between North and South: In conversation with Greco, Scholten and Zappalà

The practices of Emio Greco & Pieter C. Scholten and Roberto Zappalà reveal clear affinities: choreographic centres have emerged from distinct, self-developed dance practices. Over the years, transmission, the support of new makers, and the development of individual methodologies have taken shape.

In an interview, the makers reflect on their collaboration, the similarities and differences in their practices, and the mutual attraction that led to this shared creation. The full interview will be released soon; for now, we offer an exclusive preview.

At the beginning of February, Greco and Scholten sit down in front of the camera beneath the concrete arches of the imposing Westbeat building, home to their Space for Dance Art. The conversation opens with a practical question that soon proves—both philosophically and concretely—to touch the very core of L.A.V.A.

Those differences in methodology and approaches to dance—what do you do with the tension between them?

In the work of Greco & Scholten, this field of tension is often deliberately sought out: in collaborations with other disciplines—they have created works with, among others, actors and an opera company—but also within the choreography itself, where counterforces such as sound and light are frequently set against one another. There has never been a search for “fusion” or seamless blending.

In L.A.V.A., the differences between the dance practices become the very source of friction: a place to inhabit, a fertile ground from which the body draws knowledge, and through which it activates its own intrinsic intelligence in order to remain within that space. Is difference allowed to exist? Can we endure it without always striving for a resolution in which everything neatly converges?

This tension forms the point of departure for L.A.V.A.

Many more themes arise in the interview: questions of what the body represents—or resists representing—narrative structures in dance or their absence, and the surrounding dance landscapes of North and South.

Keep an eye on our socials and website for the release of the full interview.