Apostolos Kouroupakis talks with Lia Haraki about her contribution to 'The Persians'
Our common musical instrument is the heart
Choreographer Lia Haraki invested in the physical energy of the actors
Choreographer Lia Haraki describes to ‘Kathimerini’ her experience in Aeschylus' "Persians", directed by Aris Biniaris, which will be staged by THOC from July 13th. Lia Haraki starts our discussion, saying that the meeting with the director of the performance was very successful, since their research and interests in art converged. They communicated about how they both perceived things.
What made a special impression on Lia was the sound and rhythm that Aris Biniaris brings to the tragedy, two elements that he puts forward in the performance "Persians", but also in his works in general. Lia added her own research to these elements of the performance like repetition, physical vibration and flow of movement.
What exactly did she see in this particular work of Aeschylus and how did she finally approach it? "The approach to movement in this specific tragedy is about the energy of movement, not its form. What we called with the group of performs ‘movement states’." After discussing with the director, they decided to listen to their bodies and their kinesiological needs and eventually invested in them. "I listened to the organic movement of the actors' bodies when they were reciting or singing these texts, and I just underlined it. I didn't think there should be a choreography outside of the one that is organically existing in space and in the bodies when they vibrate to specific rhythms.
But what is the contribution of Lia Haraki to the "Persians" of Aris Biniaris, does she bring something new? "The work is both a sound and a physical piece from beginning to end, so my contribution was important" and stresses that the creative process was very interesting, with the director having been very supportive of the process of preparing the bodies on a daily basis, "we had to create that silence that would allow us to hear the real physical needs’.
The element that guided the warm up was our internal pulse and therefore the heart", to this vital organ of man the choreographer pays special attention "I believe that our great attention and engagement with the organ of the heart may create a bridge of coordination in the work from the hearts of the actors to the hearts of the audience and perhaps co-move them.
Dance, the art of being
In the part of the invocation in the work where there is a special ceremony where King Darius is called to ascend to the upper world, we looked at oriental rites from tribes such as the Sufis and zikr. These are references that I brought to the work from my own choreographic research, since in 2013 I created the work "Tune In" which, among other places, traveled to the Venice Biennale and the Athens Festival.
In the solo, the repetition of movement for 40 minutes brings ecstasy, that is, transformation through many energy changes. In the invocation of the Persians, Atossa (Karyophyllia Karabeti) stays on the spot and repeats head movements on one side and the other. So you can imagine the coordination of all the elements with each other.
Energy, movement, pulse and vibration are transfered to the viewer, says Lia Haraki through empathy which happens anyway in every live performance, when the work manages to captivate the viewer in the journey it proposes and adds: "The sound and physical universe we are proposing is certainly intense and there is a high probability of parallel vibration of the spectators' bodies who witness the vibration of the actors".
Movement is life that is transformed into dance and then into art. What is this art after all? "Life cannot exist without movement, so we are talking about the art of being."
A great lesson
Lia Haraki tells ‘Kathimerini’ that the experience of creating this show was a great lesson for many of the contributors and a key element was the exchange of information and energy between them. Director Aris Biniaris, with his knowledge of sound and his passion for a project he believes in, created a working situation that made everyone evolve. Lia Haraki describes Karyofyllia Karabeti as a "school", "she is simply a tireless and a devoted servant of theater".
Each contributor, adds Lia Haraki, had something to give and take from the creative process, until the final result came out: "The Men's chorus (χορός) was developing every day without compromises on energy and with an open mind and heart towards new paths. Antonis Myriagos with his very special performance, Nikos Psaras with his generosity in the knowledge of theater, Haris Charalambous with his consistency towards the role, a living example for all", but what did she gain from this whole process? "I learned a little bit more about the word care and support, and definitely something about how 15 men can work together."
Ideally, what would Lia Haraki like to happen after this performance? "I hope we will meet through this instrument that we all have and we all need to listen to. Our common musical instrument. In the scene of mourning we worked on what a wound to the heart can mean physically and how King Xerxes who finally comes to the scene has the energy of an open wound. In other words, existence that has dissolved and lost all kinds of pulse.
Apostolos Κouroupakis ‘Kathimerini’, July 22nd, 2017
'The Onion process - unlayering the artistic practice' by Lia Haraki
Creation usually implies the development of an idea into form. The construction and crafting of a concept into matter.
I would like to give another perspective to the creative process as a process of undoing rather than doing so that the outcome can be revealed rather than developed. This way of thinking was triggered by my process of realizing the passing of time on my physical and mental body in an unusual way. We usually experience the passing of time through our bodies and its traces are found in the forms of knowledge, stored memory, trauma and many more elements which in their totality define our identities. Usually the passing of time is also evident on the body physically through its gradual deterioration and heaviness. In my experience, I understand growing up as a reversed process. A process of becoming lighter rather than heavier since growing up one can more esaily distinguish which element from ones life remains relevant and useful and which should be let go, or dropped away. It is like with aging, a person understands what is important to be kept and cared for and detaches from the useless, the unnecessary, and the heavy. In other words, the more one knows what one doesn’t want and leaves it behind, the more one becomes centered and stays with the essential. In this sense, the body and its energy become lighter and one might even feel younger than what they used to feel in their 20s. It’s like growing deeper rather than growing older. Nailing essence rather than dealing with nonsense.
In the creative process of making work, this notion of letting go can easily be applied as the artist often needs to let go and give up what is not necessary and relevant to the piece they are making. It is as if the artist is someone that does not start from a place of not knowing when entering a creative process but from a place of already knowing a lot like an older person having lived their life. In this sense rather than entering the workplace in a doubtful mode, the artist enters with a sense of knowing that they already have all the answers. The creative journey then is about observing the layers of thoughts and ideas which are relevant to stay and those who should be dropped off or pealed away to make room for the elements that are essential. Ιt is an unveiling process where eventually the core of one's work becomes visible.
A question then arises as to what might these layers be. Here are some that I tried to articulate:
A need or pressure to please the opinion of others (either people from the art industry, audience members, or our internal judgemental voice )
Ambitions which feed the ego and are foreign to the artistic work.
The need to shock, stand out, or be original
Imitating / stealing ideas from other artists rather than be inspired by elements from
other people’s work and develop them in one’s own way
Work habits and thought patterns that have worked previously but now do not suit
this new process / work
• Fear of not making the ‘right’ artistic choices. This often has to do with one's own notions of what ‘good art’ looks like. Nevertheless this fear sabotages efforts, trials and experiments that may lead to something interesting.
These haunting layers and many more, can very much keep one away from their core, as they may block the whole process. Once the artist becomes aware of which layers are not needed anymore, they can be dismissed and dropped in good time. Many times to let go of an idea or manner takes from an instance to some time and as in most things the passing of time usually allows for clarity of thought in the long run.
The onion process
There is a certain process I propose for artists to reach a state of trust where they become open to listening to what is already there.
The first stage of the process is to tune in with being so that listening to one's intuition becomes possible. For this, I propose an activity that is repetitive and keeps the physical body busy while the mind has not much room to doubt. Ιt is like a very simple puzzle. It is the ritual of peeling 8 onions with bare hands.
Following that, there is a process of digging deep into one's body of work by exploring 8 themes that I consider essential in one's way of working. The exploration includes writing, sketching, mapping, listing, thinking, and discussing the 8 themes and work towards the reflection, articulation, and clarification of the elements that make up one's artistic universe.
The 8 themes
The 8 themes that one may take into account in their creative process and articulate as much as possible are in my opinion the artistic practice, ideas and interests, working tools, artistic values, personal needs, references and influences from other sources, fears, and doubts and the element of the desired impact of the works to the audience.
‘There needs to be listening to receive the sound of knowing’ by Lia Haraki
The development of ‘the onion’ workshop evolved from my desire to share in practice the most important principle that has guided my own artistic and living process:
Listening to Intuition.
The challenge with what seems like a very vague term was to try to translate and articulate into practical exercises, the ways intuition has been guiding my creative processes. Meaning, to understand how It works as much as possible so that it can become a conscious tool in the artistic making. To do that I had to zoom into my experience, fragment and analyze its parts and invent ways to communicate it to others.
Ιntuition is defined as ‘the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning’. Another word for it is ‘inspiration’ which in its literal meaning is to be in spirit, connected to one’s spiritual body. ‘Genious’ is also a relevant term, as it comes from the Latin word of the same name, meaning "guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth". Socrates the ancient greek philosopher was known to listen to the ‘daimonion’ or internal voice with the implication from the writings about him that he was guided by something he regarded as divine or semi-divine.
The way I understand intuition in the artistic process is that one trusts that all information and knowledge are already existing on an energetic level, so the artistic process is about grounding it to a conscious level, to a form. Tο attract and host such knowledge it is necessary to become in tune with the place inside the body that has similar energy. It is remembering the relation all living creatures have with the universal knowing or the divine creativity which is the wisdom where we came from and where we will return.
Art making is the journey of discovering, articulating, downloading, and channeling the necessary information needed each time to the physical body of the creator/artist, who will then translate it/transform it into form. This is not to say that intuition alone is the only element needed for the making of a good work of art or an interesting creative process. Methodologies, theories, and practices are essential and necessary tools for such a process. Nevertheless what guides one to choose the kinds of tools to be used is very much guided by ‘what feels right’.
The key for this to happen is that there needs to be room for the welcoming of such knowledge in the physical body and therefore the body must remain in a state of presence, openness, and trust. Intuition then works as a guide to reveal to the artist which kinds of pathways to choose so that they get the knowledge and information needed each time.
In order to make room inside one’s body for divine creativity to ground itself, one needs to connect to the inner creator, which is the place/state from where we can connect to source. Unfortunately the inner creator is usually hidden or scared and so it is often difficult for any likewise energy that comes from all kinds of directions/dimensions to resonate with it and help it grow. To connect to the inner creator it is essential to become present and honor with full attention the state of beingness by being present with no expectations for any kind of instant artistic results. To do that, all the unnecessary noise which usually blocks this process has to be released. Meaning to let go and give up on beliefs, ideas, and manners that either belongs to the past or the future and are not relevant to the present process.
Specifically what stops this process is the fact that many of us feel we don’t know enough and therefore enter the process with insecurity. This creates a self-sabotage feeling that can not possibly allow one to be open to new information. Then as in everything in life ‘the law of attraction’ is at work. Meaning whatever the state of the artist is, then that will be the kind of energy they will attract. Ιnsecurity will bring more insecurity, fear will bring more fear, trusting will bring deeper trust, presence will bring prolonged presence, tuning into essence will lead to diving into essence. So the power of free will, consciously directed, is key here so that one becomes present enough to reach the receptive mode.
When one tunes in and starts connecting and receiving, it is the ultimate feeling of peace where the most precious element common to all living beings becomes vibrant: the soul. It is a feeling like coming home, like being very comfortable, being in joy, being involved and interested, a state where creative thoughts and ideas flow, connections are made between elements and references, energies and actions, theories and practice, in a never-ending abundance of inspiration.
'Tune In' by Lia Haraki
A text on the creative process of the making of the solo ‘Tune In’
for the online magazine ‘From stage to page’
Read here
'SEXY YUPPIES' by Kestrel Leah
A text on the ‘Sexy Yuppies’ performance written by performer/director Kestrel Leah for artist-led performance journal SPELL, to be launched in early 2021.
Read here
Picture by Kestrel Leah
'THE WORK OF ART RATHER THAN THE ART WORK MAKES ART NECESSARY ' by lia haraki
During the close down of Covit – 19 there was a statement on social media as part of a general reaction towards artists not being supported enough that got me thinking about art, its role and its value. The statement was :
‘If you think artists are useless try spending your quarantine
without music, books, poems, movies and paintings.
I tried hard to understand why these words bothered me. Was it the fact that I found it sad that there was a need for artists to prove their self-worth? Was it that art was appearing as an entertainment tool? Was it that I as a performing artist found no space in those products and felt left out?
The mad era of consumption has turned humans to think of the concept of value in general as something measurable in numbers, or in amounts of material things or in a series of achievements prioritizing quantity as a primary criteria for success and the element of competition as its driving force. Art is not necessary or worth existing or essential only because of its numerous outcomes and it should not be appreciated for that alone. The statement im referring to tried to justify art’s existence by emphasizing its material forms, skipping the fact that art is mostly everything that comes before the end product ( the product actually being only a part of its function), as well as that which comes after (its impact), and therefore value should be given to
Art as a process.
The creative process of art making is a process of creating worlds parallel to the one we live, a process of inventing other realities, a process where the immaterial becomes grounded and shaped and reformed in order to inform the world in new ways. Art is the process that helped the shaping of ideologies and contributed in the formation of civilizations while working towards creating amazing architecture and sculptures and symphonies and dances. It helped construct cultures and inspired philosophical ideas by its critique on society on its way towards creation, and it was hardly ever an easy journey neither for the ones making it nor for the ones experiencing it, and so
Art is not entertainment.
The jester of the king comes to mind when I think of the term entertainment. An action providing amusement or enjoyment and that is precisely what art is not. It is something much less accurate and not as precise in its aim. It is that which can challenge our perceptions, our ethics, our ideas and philosophies about life and disturb our notions of beauty. It is that that can move and remove our comfortably set ways in order to make us rethink of our role in society, of making us aware of our privileges or exclusions of our inhibitions and prohibitions, of our political ideas and their vital importance. It does not aim at amusement via methods of emotional manipulation but rather serves its intention each time regardless of its effect. Art is a wake up call from a deep sleep of ignorance and apathy into starting to think about ways of putting our existence in good use, and it is a concept that belongs to all since
Art is not the art industry.
Art has come to be valued through the art industry but this does not mean that it exists only in that frame or that it can only be practiced by professionals. One of my favorite thoughts is that all humans are producers of artworks and they do it every day. The only thing they need to do is to turn around and have a pick at the color, the shape and the texture of their bowel movement. Extraordinary sculptures many of the times! Art is the ability to create while being conscious and aware of the act of creation, turning concept into form and every human can do it. Whether it’s the art of making a cake, or the art of telling a story or the art of making love, or the art of surviving. The opposite to that would be creation without consciousness which is what I would define as bad art or in other words life without love (not necessarily love towards another human).
Art in the post pandemic era.
Now with humanity taking a huge pause due to the pandemic it is a great opportunity to rethink of our choices that shaped the world and start co-creating it again into a world we would like to be living in. Art can play a vital role in helping this reshaping as it can penetrate deeply into social structures and situations by creating experiences and providing services that can trigger new ways of thinking about humans’ realtionship to other living creatures and the world. The artists as people who dare be innovative, groundbreaking and brave can question, open and challenge through their several mediums, the inequalities and violence and unfairness which is evident in so many sections of life. Art can regain its place in society not as a special luxury (limited only for the few that can afford it) but rather as an essential part of the norm. As a function that keeps us on our feet not to get too comfortable, connects us to our hearts not to avoid feeling with and for others, and awakens our minds so we take responsibilty of our actions which shape the world.
And that is why the work art does is not just necessary but deeply fundamental!
Lia Haraki
'Banish Thought Loose Yourself' by Yiannis Papapadakis
Banish Thought, loose Yourself!
Yiannis Papadakis, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Cyprus
One body, legs fixed to the floor, compulsively shaking to the neo-primitive beat. Inward, uncommunicative, alone. All body, all movement, one random repetitive pattern after the other, no thought.
Despite its simplicity, or more likely because of it, as I watched Lia Haraki’s Tune In, I found myself transported to all kinds of unexpected places. This was to be my very own, idiosyncratic, anthropological trip: from “primitive” rituals to contemporary clubbing; from reflections of loneliness to efforts at transcendence; all laced, however, with a bitter taste of despair as the body of the performer was gradually failing under the strain with repetition becoming more and more jerkily erratic.
Primitive ritual was about creating collective solidarity. This Durkheimian view argued that through the ecstasy – literally meaning standing outside of oneself – created by music, drugs, dance and repetition, the individual monads came to a communion, thus creating society. Society, social bonds, as well as social proscriptions, were created through ritual, which had to repetitively take place at fixed periods if society was to continue being.
In capitalist modernity, rituals have changed form and function. Many social scientists would look at weekend mega-events (the soccer game, the club outing, the cinema viewing) as frantic efforts to escape. Individuals, feeling so isolated and lonely, more so in the multi-million mega-cities, yearn for a possibility of communion, whether by losing themselves in the soccer crowd or the club floor: joining in, following the rhythm, all emotion, in these small weekend rebellions against the cold grip of everyday calculative rationality. Losing themselves becomes the point of such futile attempts. Bored with work, tired of an alienating bureau-technocratic existence, they go all out in order to escape their troubles in search of some excitement. Thought is being unwittingly reminded of one’s troubled existence, so the ultimate aim to is escape from oneself. Clubbing turns into an ecstatic transcendence of the self, losing oneself in the crowd, all in communion with each other through the beat yet all so alone, becoming just a body, entering into a trance, banishing thought.
The dreaded Monday morning soon arrives and by Friday the urge is there once more.
Collaboration with NiMAC for OPAP City Theatre
NIMAC FOR THEATRO POLIS
NiMAC [The Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, Associated with the Pierides Foundation] and choreographer Lia Haraki’s artistic structure .pelma. are pleased to announce their creative collaboration for 2019, having as their centre the OPAP City Theatre.
In the framework of this collaboration, the OPAP City Theatre will host a series of interesting synergies that will include art exhibitions, theoretical presentations and lectures, performances, dance and dance theatre, residency programmes for Cypriots and foreign artists, workshops, as well as educational programmes.
A detailed programme of the activities and events of this collaboration you can see in the calendar section