ALESSANDRO SOLLIMA///
ARTIST STATEMENT
I've always been a moving body. When I was young I tried to fit in to the coded formality of Modern, Funky and Hiphop techniques, today I look for more freedom, originality and personality in movement.
At the moment my main focus is improvisation and instant composition.
I think movement is the muscles activation in a specific time frame towards a direction in space. These three factors (muscle tension, speed/rhythm, direction in space) in my opinion are the ground to compose with while improvising alone or in a group.
-Muscle tension, from total relaxation to total stiffness and rigidity.
-Speed and rhythm, from slow-motion to extremely fast impulses.
-Space, inside of me, around me, between me and the rest of the group (if there is any), between me and the room, between me and the audience (if there is any), outside of the room.
Choosing consciously a different combination of these factors it will be easy to discover new body qualities and dynamics, going towards unexplored ground, embracing the challenge.
This approach to body movement makes performance communicative at all time.
Trusting the body, it will know where to go. It is just a matter of instinct: how to turn off the brain and let the body lead you where you have not yet gone, continuously surprising yourself with a playful attitude.
It is my opinion that a moving body has to be functional and communicative at every moment while performing. I have the need to be meaningful, being sure about what I want to deliver to the audience. If I am performing something very physical, I like to give as much as I can; in case of something more subtle and small, I allow meaning to move from inside keeping my intention clear in my mind. This is what I look for in everyday training, performing, in other people and in myself.
‘From inside of me I can change the room, and it will change myself in relation to the room.’
I feel lucky because I had the possibility and the opportunity to make my research the main focus in my life, which is not really common where I come from. Because I could choose, I feel the responsibility of this choice and, for this reason, I have to get the best out of it.
Everyday, when I go into the studio I bring all my playfulness, concentration, being positive about possible results and realistic about the impossible ones. Sometimes I say to myself “Why so serious?”.