Body in transit : an investigation of presence as a zone of alterity / Gabriela Flarys (2017)

Body in Transit investigates a specific quality of presence cultivated in an energetic/somatic training called Matrices, which derived from principles of Oriental theatre, the work of Eugênio Barba, Jerzy Grotowski and the Lume group. I further develop the training by applying a new procedure to it regarding the experience of the voice.

Observations coming from my practice are instigated by theoretical investigation on contemporary philosophers, theatre practitioners and cultural identity. I explore the notion of having an experience (Jorge Larrosa) as a key aspect, which conducts my reflections, in addition to the idea of diaspora (Paul Giroy and Stuart Hall) and processes of translation (Jacques Derrida) as acts of creation. In this dissertation, I suggest presence as a zone of alterity, which implicates transitions, instability, impermanence and, ultimately, transformation of a performer into otherness. This notion is enhanced by my perspective of living abroad, along with interviews with other foreigners, which are also applied as the main theme for my final solo piece There She Is.

The performance making process developed fundamentally from the quality of the body resulted from a long period of training Matrices. I inscribed my solo within what I nominate as aesthetics of alterity, referring to the experience of articulating foreign voices as a point of departure to engender a zone of presence and, ultimately, a body in transit.