Eva Urbanová: THE ESSENCE

During the creation process of this choreography I continued the development of my own dance methodology through movement research. This methodology is focused on using a  body scanning practice which helps me  connect with the subconscious parts of myself. After reaching this state, I generate the movement material which is later needed for the composition. My first intention when I decided to create this choreography was to connect with my essential movement, a movement of purity, which would not only empower myself but also the space around me. This idea emerged just after graduating from a  choreography programme as I felt the studies blocked the flow of my essential movement. At the same time I needed to reconnect with my body after  a severe sickness. Perhaps this empowerment I was searching for at that time and for which a deep truthful connection with the body is necessary also leads to the primordial and beyond-self movements which are  part of my research. Additionally, in some moments of this choreography, you can also see me performing movements which I perceive as learned or expected from the dancer to perform and are not coming from my essential movement language vocabulary. Personally, these movements are creating for me a contrast to my essential movement and help me create an inner emotional narrative. For the creation of the text, I used the automatic writing method. The outcome of this writing was not only text but also the discovery of a certain specific (essential?) rhythm which can be found both in text and in my dance.

“In the solo piece Essence, Eva Urbanová confirms that she is a mature dancer despite her young age. Her movement is straightforward, revealing to us her feelings, emotions and thoughts. She is fragile and strong at the same time. Simply, through physical expression, spontaneously, she is able to express, what is inner. Through a kind of movement ritual, she searches for traces of the essence of herself, of her own or human essence. The two awards she has received abroad for this solo are only a natural assessment of her qualities, both interpretive and creative.”

(Miroslava Kovářová)