ARIANNA BALESTRIERI

Now you’re a contemporary dancer. But, did you explore different styles in the past? Tell me about your background.

My love for contemporary dance has come with time. My journey started when I was 6 years old during a normal day during the summer. I went to my mother and I said: “I want to start dancing”. I started with ballet in a small dance school and for many years I cultivated a passion for this style. Rigor and discipline have always been virtues similar to my character. Then, years later during World Dance Day, I watched a contemporary performance on television by an important international company. In that moment, I realised that there was more than ballet. I was completely captured and something changed into me. The next year, I left my ballet studies with the same determination that I have always had. I moved to Milan with the goal to start a new academic and professional path. I wanted to discover and learn every single aspect of contemporary dance.

We often hear about the world of dance, in particular the ballet world,as a very rigid and selective environment with specific aesthetic standards. What was your personal experience regarding this aspect? How important is the physical aspect?

Indeed it is. If you study or work in a professional environment it is normal. Speaking from my experience, I remember a time during the academy where we had to wear very tight bodysuits for a show. For this reason, dancers who did not have a 'slender' body were not allowed to participate. This is a tricky argument that I share and condemn at the same time. It always depends on how it is communicated. Ballet, and sometimes also contemporary dance have standards, aesthetic harmonies, and tradition to respect. We can find the same thing in other types of art: there are no sculptures of overweight men during the classical historic period. Also, we have to consider that being a dancer requires a lot of energy and a healthy and toned body. This is because the body has to perform difficult and uncomfortable movements with great ease. But, this does not mean one has to have an anorexic body!! However, in the contemporary dance environment, it is a bit different because sometimes the physical aspect has no link to the choreography. The emotional connection to the piece outweighs the technique and the ideal of a perfect body. This is the main aspect that caught my attention when I decided to learn the contemporary style. I was so excited when I got to see Simona Atzori, an armless dancer, dancing. Every physical defect and limitation disappears when there is talent. If you want to work in this industry you have to conform to certain rules and it is a teacher’s job to inform you and prepare you to confront the professional dance world.

Speaking about technique and feelings. I’m not an expert, but I had the pleasure of attending your performance during the “Reverie” show. I was completely shocked seeing the amazing control of body movement. At the same time, I perceived a great interpretation of feelings. However, not everyone can have both these skills. Do you think that one is more important than the other? Or do they have equal relevance?

They are two aspects that have come together during my path. With time, my sensitive character met discipline, partly innate and partly learned by ballet. On stage, I feel the necessity to express all feelings that are inside me. I don’t speak much, and I only trust a few people. Dance is the perfect tool to express all these feelings. During a performance, I’m extremely expressive; this is due to the fact that I want to communicate with every single person present in the room, but I know that I can’t use any words. As a consequence, I have full control of my body. It is like an automatic mechanism that I create after many hours, weeks, months, and even years of practicing. Technique and expression are two skills that coexist in dance. If you love what you are doing, it will be natural.

If you had to choose between choreography and improvisation which would you choose? and why?

Improvisation. Thanks to that feeling of freedom I can enacting that ‘automatic mechanism’ where your feelings become movement as I said before. I love that moment when you go into the dance room and you start to interact with other dancers without using words. It is a sort of silent conversation. You really get to know other people without a language filter that can often cause misunderstandings. Through dance you perceive others' energy, and it can’t lie, it is pure spontaneity. For this reason, I prefer to create a performance/choreography starting from improvisation. Another aspect that I appreciate about improvisation is the fact that I don’t have to do something that somebody asks me to do. We are unique individuals with different characteristics. For example, depending on dancers, a movement can be harmonious or terrible. When you’re a child you learn through imitation. Then, growing up, you develop your identity. This is the same for a dancer, you learn the rules, then you can develop your own style and voice.

Have you ever had second thoughts about your choice to undertake this career?

I suppose that it is not easy to combine passion for the job, as in other artistic fields. In addition, dance has a sort of “expiry date” because of the age limitation.

No, I haven’t had second thoughts. My choice to undertake this career was a natural impulse. It was the only thing that I could do well and life showed me which path I could take, and it offered me opportunities. Also, my determination has had a key role, I have to say. At the same time, the fear of no longer being able to express my art through movement makes me curious to learn other art forms. It really is a necessity that I feel, and that I need to be able to live peacefully with myself. I'm hungry for knowledge. When I discovered the sewing machine, I started to realize customs for shows and performances. I have also known photography and video making, and I started to produce video-choreography on my laptop. These different art forms helped me to be even even closer to the dance world, and they give me a broader view. If for some reason (age or other circumstances as a worldwide pandemic) I have to stop my dance career, I know that all that I am learning will be useful. Another form of art is to transform your passion into a job!

Do you have anyfuture projects in dance and not? Any upcoming shows?

During this time I should have had two shows in England and a new production in Portugal. Now everything is on stand-by because of the health emergency we are facing. My project now is to not ave a specific project. Everything can change at any moment, especially the dance field now more than ever. I’m getting ready for any changes. In this particular moment, I’m reacting using improvisation, and all the other art forms I love. I am still training, and producing material: photos, videos, paintings, costumes, etc.. I don’t even know the reason, but I’m sure that all this work will be useful. I will find the reason at the right moment.

My last ritualistic question: why do you dance?

It’s like asking: why does a Christian pray in church? Why does a Muslim pray in the mosque? Why do they do it?

I have asked myself many times, but finding a logical answer is not easy. There’s an energy, internal or external, that pushes me on doing it. I need to listen to my body, even if I can’t use a big space or even if it’s just for a few minutes. Dance is my shelter, where I get lost and where I find myself, and where I know I can discover new things. I dance because it makes me feel happy, alive, and it makes my soul pure. Everyone is looking for truth, and I’m looking for it in dance.

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