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religion sometimes, it is fixed but shouldn’t be. Just make sure it’s real. Dance DNA is a term I’ve coined to explore where the cultural movement might begin in the body, where that essential feeling or ‘sweet spot’ is located, how it is triggered and how known pathways can be pushed into new territories without losing that authenticity. For me, this begins in the elbows and moves to the hands and finger circling. It feels ancestral and real. It’s the place I start from grounded
in a deep breathing and a silent rhythm playing inside. I showed him my Dance DNA processes. Thumbs up. It’s April, FORGE premieres in a month. Juan sent an email last night he is in USA to remount his show, RITMO. He said there isn’t much support for ‘contemporaryflamenco’ in Spain. The new label. The pianist resigned last week. Performance anxiety or perhaps the risk is just too great. So I’ll go it alone now. Adelante. Forge.
Annalouise Paul is a choreographer, dancer and actor. She trained at the Laban Centre in London in contemporary dance and flamenco with key maestros in Spain. Her works explore cultures, identity and transformation through the intersections of traditional and contemporary practice. Annalouise won the inaugural 2013 Australian Arts in Asia Award in Dance and NSW Premiers Export Scholarship with Game On tour to India. She was Founder-CEO of Groundswell Arts NSW a sector-driven advocacy organisation from 2009-2014. She has been supported by Australia Council, Arts NSW, DFAT, Critical Path, Bundanon Trust, NSW DET and Greater London Arts. (Opposite page) Juan Carlos Lerida in Pisadas, 2016. Photo: Francisco Villalta (Page 42-43) Mother Tongue by Annalouise Paul, 2014. Photo: Shane Rozario