Interview: Vera Obradović, choreographer

The Movement is a Sign

"Lada Kapičić, the editor of the drama program at House of Culture Studentski grad, invited me to create the authorship project with which we could apply for the grant that The Belgrade City Hall is awarding every year. The novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is definitely grateful for transposing into choreo-dramatic theatre and that was crucial. As soon as I thought on that piece, I hadn't yet written a project proposal, but I finished with acting cast in my head, that is, I immediately invited Ivan Nikolić, Aleksandar Đinđić, Borjanka Ljumović, Primož Vrhovec and it turned out to be one of their favorite book. That fact by itself had already promised a good and nice work" - Vera Obradović, choreographer


By NEVENA ŠARČEVIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


Vera Obradović graduated from The Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. She mastered at the University of Arts in Belgrade with a paper: "Maga Magazinovic: The art of dancing and female alphabet (pedagogy - feminism - artistic practice)", her mentor was Dr. Divna Vuksanović. She is finalizing her doctorate at The Faculty of drama arts in Belgrade. As a choreographer her debut was in 1988, at The Serbian national theatre in Novi Sad, when she received an award at the Fourth Yugoslav Ballet competition for choreography ''The Requiem'' (music: W. A. Mozzart). She was dancing in "The Belgrade modern ballet of Smiljana Mandukic" from 1981 to 1990, and in 1990 she founded her own dancing troupe of modern dance - "The XXI movement". Since 1996 she works as an assistant to Vladimir Logunov for the subject of Scene dances at The Academy of fine arts, and in 2001 she was elected a docent for the subject Scene movement and Scene dances. As a collaborator in our most important theatres, she has also done and is still doing scene movement and choreography for many plays, as well as the authorship choreo-dramas. She teaches at The Academy of fine arts in Belgrade and at The Faculty of arts in Kosovska Mitrovica. She won several awards for choreography. She is a member of The World council of dance - CID UNESCO.

How long have you been preparing for Dorian Gray?

The rehearsals with actors lasted a month and a half, and the work on the dramatization of the text lasted several months. In some way, I was forced to adopt the text for the scene by my own because of a perfectly simple reason - there weren't enough funds for everything I imagined, and this way the dramatization didn't cost us a thing. This is my first dramatization and my daughter helped me so much. Otherwise, the play is being regularly performed at Dom Kulture Studentski grad, but besides that, we want to perform it on different festivals.

How do you find the solution when your imagination stops, and you know the time is running?

The ideas flow by themselves in a rhythm that is not predictable. In the theatre creating is a mutual act, but the most important thing is that the one working in choreography or direction perfectly knows what he wants, in what direction he wants to aim for the development of that mutual project. My favorite collaborations are the ones during which ideas and thoughts are being exchanged through the air during rehearsals, that is, you think without even saying the indication, and someone is already accomplishing it. Of course, that kind of the theatre alchemy is not so frequent, but when it does feel, it makes all in the team experience great joy of association and creativity.

While you are making a play, what is the most important thing to accomplish with the actors?

I think that the most important thing is a long and mutual research, never to be satisfied with first-hand solutions and that in the final result actor feels good and comfortable in the role he is playing, that is, to feels like he is in his own skin. When, on call, I collaborate with theatres as someone who is supposed to exclusively create and solve a scene move in one drama play - I try to make my ''choreographic hand'' absolutely not to be seen, not to be felt, that nothing seems artificially and false, in other words, that during the rehearsals all is spontaneously being pulled out from the actor's being, in order to every move and physical act look naturally, in harmony and related with the character that is being interpreted and with the statement that is being pronounced.

What do you want to accomplish with the audience?

Tears and laughter! The most important thing is that the audience obtains a true experience, that they are still thinking about what they have seen and experienced after leaving the theatre hall. I am happy when I notice that the audience almost "doesn't breathe", when I have their absolute attention during that hour or two, then I know that I have certainly accomplished something. Also, it is very important when someone tells you that the play he has just seen wasn't a waste of time. Besides that, I admit that I often test and listen to my own plays in different ways, for example, the opinion of my assistants is very important for the technical direction, lights, tone, etc.

Since you are handling the nonverbal comunication through your subject - scenic move - is it stronger than the verbal comunication?

Maybe it is better to say that nonverbal communication is far more sincere. First of all, it emerges from the unconscious part of the human being and you receive it, you decode it on that level. If you are doing researches and analyses of the move for many years, there is "a danger" of reading others' intentions, sincerity, temperament etc exclusively through the shown gesturing, body posture etc, that is, to neglect what your peer is talking about and to far more carefully observe the way they are doing it. And that means that it can happen to I read the others between the lines, while I forget the lines.

The movement is a sign. Sometimes it tells and discovers someone's silent thought or repressed mood, and sometimes it can be a physical accent, emphasizing the spoken words, but it is always a specific expression of the personality itself and of its inner state.

Your favorite choreographer?

It is hard to name only one, because some choreographers are close to me because of their aesthetics, some of them by the way they imagine things, others by something else, etc. For example, I very much like Moris Bezar, Karolin Karson, Mac Eko, Jurzi Kilijan, Filip Dekufle, and every one of them is special in its own way and totally different. Actually, today the dance has gone really far in its development and there are many extraordinary choreographers.

You also work on different performances?

Of course. The most recent performance was in Kult teatar this fall, which resulted from my six days workshop of a scene movement. I did it with students in the second year of Drama, in the class of Olivera Ježina and Anja Suša from Academy of fine arts. In the end I was very happy and satisfied with the accomplished result.


(Published: 10.03.2009.)