Interview
Sara Angius
Sara Angius is an accomplished Italian performer and choreographer, who received her professional training at the Accademia Dance-Haus in Milan while also studying communication sciences of the performing arts at the State University of Milan. She began her career at the Staatstheater Braunschweig in 2013, where she danced in various choreographies by renowned artists. Angius gained international recognition for her own choreographic works, winning awards at prestigious competitions. Her breakthrough came with her solo piece "Start-watchers," which earned her third prize at the 17th Stuttgart International Solo-Tanz_Theater Festival in 2013. She continued to create acclaimed pieces, such as "The Fish Bowl," which won first prize at the 15th International Choreography Competition Burgos-New York in Spain. Angius's career as a freelance artist flourished, leading to collaborations with esteemed institutions and artists worldwide. She has choreographed numerous productions, including "The Shape of Water" and "WALLPAPER," which premiered at LOT Theatre Braunschweig. Her diverse repertoire includes works for renowned venues like the Opera de Paris and the Theater der Jungen Welt in Leipzig. In addition to her creative endeavors, Angius is committed to community engagement, as demonstrated by her choreography for the Braunschweig State Theatre's community dance project "Tanzwärts! Leichtes Gepäck."
Her powerful and creative work, Incognitum, was one of the major award winners at Experimental Brasil 2024.
1- How do you view the role of cinema in artistic expression, especially concerning dance and choreography?
I find that the combination of cinema and choreography opens up a huge range of possibilities of expression there where theatre presents its limits.
I personally used the film language to offer the viewers those details of the movements and face expression that cannot be shown in theatre and I experimented with the perspective of camera to play with the illusion in my multidisciplinary work that combines dance and puppetry.
2-Which filmmakers or films have influenced your creative approach in your work?
All films by Wes Anderson, "Twin Picks“ by David Lynch; "Vivarium“ by Lorcan Finnegan; "Don’t lie now“ by Pawła Borowskiego.
3-How do you balance visual narrative with bodily expression in your cinematic productions?
In my dance-based multidisciplinary work the narrative aspect is very present. I try to define the characters through movement and body language and I place them in concrete situations. The dance and the movement without words expand the concrete narrative situation towards the surreal and abstract, giving space to the imagination and interpretation of the viewer.
4- What is the greatest challenge when translating the live dance experience to the cinematic medium?
The greatest challenge is to keep the performance up while shooting. It is very different from the theatrical way of performing where the performance happens in one go.
In cinema the same movement sequence has to be shot from different angles, therefore repeated several times. I find it particularly challenging to dive into the character, disconnect and reconnect for the next shot.
5-How do you believe collaboration between filmmakers and choreographers can enrich the final outcome of a piece?
The knowledge of filmmakers and choreographers is different and when the resources of both are combined together it can only enrich the outcome: the choreographer’s eye can see which movements are the most efficient and from which angle, with which rhythm, for example. The filmmaker has a knowledge that can support the choreographic work on both, a registic aspect and a technical aspect (which camera movement fits better for which shot, ecc..).
6-What are your future plans for exploring new ways of storytelling through the intersection of dance and cinema?
I can imagine making a new film where dance, puppetry and cinema are again combined. In this future work I would like to explore even deeper the possibility of exploring the inner self and all facets of the subconscious that we cannot express with concrete words.
7-How do you perceive the potential of technology in the evolution of dance and cinema, and how do you incorporate it into your work?
I perceive the potential of technology as a tool to compensate for the limits of the laws of physics, for example: I could suspend a body in the air, slow down the movement or make it extremely accelerated, walk upside down. All these effects and many others would support, in my case, the need to explore those existencial topics that touch the untouchable: the subconscious, the death, the dream…
8-What are the key themes or messages you seek to convey through your cinematic productions?
I am interested in touching existential topics, that allow myself and the spectators to have an introspective look to what happens “inside”.
I am interested in human emotional layers, in what is behind the surface and beyond the blurry line that separates what exists from what is only inside the mind.
There’s nothing that we are not able to think, no place where the human mind cannot go: this is what I like to experience in theatre, as a performer and as a spectator, and therefore it is the red thread that leads my ideas.
In my work I always have a psychological and emotional approach. I like to relate to the surreal, to the metaphysical dimension and to all those existencial topics that touch the untouchable: the subconscious, the self projection, the death, the dream…
9- What is the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration in creating works that transcend the traditional boundaries of dance and cinema?
The combination of dance and cinema opens up for me the possibility of using different tools that combined can help me to express my contents that otherwise would not come across so clearly.
10-How do you address the challenge of maintaining authenticity and emotional resonance in performance when adapting it to the cinematic medium?
It requires a good amount of concentration and self discipline in maintaining the body warm and the energy alive while shooting.
