Emilia Peredo Aguirre: negativity is one of the enemies of creativity

The award-winning dancer Emilia Peredo Aguirre of the Ballett am Rhein, whose famous interpretations have dazzled audiences with their technical brilliance and expressiveness, felt this artistic vocation very early in her childhood.

Peredo Aguirre was born, raised and trained first in Resistencia, on the banks of the Paraná River in the province of Chaco (Argentina), before continuing her training at the American Academy of Ballet as well as at the School of American Ballet in New York and becoming a soloist and prima ballerina with the Ballet del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

The young artist, admired for her musicality, fluid and classical line, superior technical perfection, charm, nobility and precisely executed characterisations, is now a solid member of the ballet company of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf/Duisburg) from the 2020/2021 season. In an exclusive interview with Mundoclasico.com, she is always grateful to those who opened the way to the vast world of dance for her from the very beginning:

The people who helped me and were key to my development, my mother, Elvira, my father, Mario, all my family and friends, my cousins and teachers from Chaco, Erica and María Ferrazzano; as well as Lidia Segni, Karina Olmedo, Bárbara Rey and Philip Beamish at the Teatro Colón.

For the Colón, Peredo Aguirre danced Pierre Lacotte's La Sylphide, Karl Burnet's Sleeping Beauty, John Cranko's Onegin, Nils Christe's Before Nightfall, George Balanchine's Symphony in C, Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, Rudolf Nureyev's Nutcracker, Frederic Ashton's Sylvia and Jerome Robbins' Fancy Free, among many other works.

At the Ballett am Rhein she has already performed Commentaries on the Floating World by Twyla Tharp, The Bald Singer by Andrey Kaydanovskiy, Le sacre du printemps by Marcos Morau, Don't look at the jar by Gil Harush, Phlegmatic summer by Michéle Anne de Mey, in the role of Mary, and in choreographies by Demis Volpi, playing Gina in Closed Games, Clara in The Nutcracker, and Kantorka in Krabat. Most recently she was acclaimed in the role of Clara, the young Cinderella, in Ruß (Soot) by Bridget Breiner, the company's new artistic director.

Peredo Aguirre will soon be seen in Spain during the presentation of the company Ballett am Rhein at the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, from 28 February to 1 March, with the evening Drei Meister - drei Werke (Three masters - three works): Rubies by Georges Balanchine, Visions Fugitives by Hans van Manen, and Enemy in the Figure by William Forsythe.

Emilia Peredo Aguirre was kind enough to answer Mundoclasico.com questions in writing, and these are her statements:

Juan Carlos Tellechea: When did you first feel your vocation for dance? How did you get started in this art?

Emilia Peredo Aguirre: The vocation for dance didn't come all at once, but like a river that was always there. My sister danced, and instead of watching, I danced in the corridors. One day they took me to classes, but I was so little that I started and stopped. Until my mother said: ‘If you start again, you must continue’. And so I did. Since then, I haven't stopped dancing.

What made you decide to make it a profession? What is the most important thing you have learned in dance?

I saw my future dancing, travelling the world, living in other countries. Dance not only gave me freedom of soul and spirit, but also on earth: it taught me to be independent and to choose my own path.

What are the biggest challenges for you in this artistic genre?

For me, one of the biggest challenges in dance is learning to cultivate calm and patience. As a teacher used to say: ‘Patience, a great virtue’. At first I didn't understand it, but with time I understood that without calm there is no constancy and without patience there is no perseverance. They go hand in hand, that's how I perceive it.

What is your philosophy in dance today?

The truth is that answering what my philosophy of dance is takes me some time to think about, but I'm going to try to get close to something inside me to answer. I feel that the philosophy of dance and the philosophy of life are the same, because dance is my philosophy of life. Through dance and daily practice, I can learn and evolve as a human being, as long as I am in touch with the innermost and not with superficial things. It is important to come back to the centre, and dance, which is my way of life, always reminds me of that. I learn through it, I grow as a human being with every movement, inhabiting the space in a conscious way every day. This is what I practice. Of course there are challenges: days when I feel disconnected, days when I thought I was present in a movement but maybe I wasn't quite. Still, I love reflecting on this, because it really is something I live.

What does grace mean to you as a dancer?

The other day I asked this very question to a very dear friend of mine, she is from Korea... and we translated the word in Korean, it has various translations depending on the context. She gave me a lot of clarification on this question.

What is the grace of a dancer? I think it's an incredible question because grace can be understood in many ways. But I believe that true grace dwells in the communion between body and spirit; when those two come together, grace appears. And it is perceived in the details, in the minimum, in the almost imperceptible. Each small gesture weaves the movement and, little by little, everything becomes one big fabric.

I think the grace lies in that essential detail, that exact point where the connection occurs. Without it, the movement would be done just for the sake of doing it. But grace comes with time, with work, and also with something innate, something we bring from birth.

Do you feel more comfortable in classical ballet or modern ballet? What are the differences between the two genres?

EPA: I feel more comfortable in classical ballet because that is what I have been practising for a long time. ‘Comfortable’, in inverted commas, because it is an inhabitation of what ballet would be, its language, its form. To find ‘a comfort’ within these forms, which is not a comfort in itself, but a peace, a temperance in the technique from within.

As for contemporary dance, I love it deeply. I am learning and will continue to learn. I deeply admire contemporary dancers because they have a very strong core work, where they can let themselves be carried by impulses, by different forces, by a letting go and holding. It is something in the brain to develop. My greatest admiration for all contemporary dancers.

Yet, in a way, I feel like a contemporary dancer, because I am a dancer of this moment, of today. I feel that everything that's happening now lives in me, and whether it's ballet or dance itself, that information is present. So, in a way, I feel like a contemporary dancer, whether I'm doing ballet or whatever, because I'm existing in this moment.

What roles have been the most challenging and exciting for you? What are your favourites?

Playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Kenneth MacMillan's version, at the Teatro Colón in 2018, was an experience that marked me deeply. It changed the way I understood dance and performance, teaching me to inhabit each scene with more authenticity. It was an immense gift, which I continue to carry with me and which transformed my way of seeing art at its most subtle.

Sharon Eyal's Salt Womb was a very exciting work that allowed me to discover a new language of movement and to expand my way of expressing myself. It was a very special sensory and physical exploration, where the body finds other ways of speaking.

Also here in Düsseldorf we had the opportunity to do Le Sacre du Printemps, a creation by Marcos Morau. It was a challenge and, at the same time, a beautiful discovery of a potential I had inside me. From the work in the auditorium to the staging and the rehearsals with the set design, every step of the process made me grow. Its unique and renewing poetics taught me a lot, allowing me to connect with dance and the stage from new layers, to explore other ways of saying and showing what is happening in the present. At the same time, being part of Stravinsky's iconic Rite of Spring from such a modern point of view was something very special, an experience I will always keep with me.

More recently, David Dawson's Empire Noir was another great challenge. His precise style and energy led me to explore new ways of moving and connecting with my stamina and physicality, finding nuances in my dance that I had not explored before.

They have really been experiences that have made me grow a lot, and I hope to have many more of this kind. Grateful for all that they continue to give me!

Also in Düsseldorf, I did Ruß (Soot) by Bridget Breiner, a version of Cinderella told from the perspective of one of the stepsisters. I played the character of Clara (Cinderella), a character that was far away from me in the beginning. I had to move away from myself to discover it, lose myself in it and then return to my centre to be able to play it authentically. It was a very enriching process and I learned a lot. Also, working with Bridget herself was a very, very beautiful and enriching experience. Stories are what I enjoy doing most in dance.

How would you describe the relationship between dancers/dancers and choreographers/choreographers?

What I am learning over time is that the relationship between the choreographer and the dancer is very important. As a dancer, at this moment, I think it is fundamental to be predisposed, open, positive and willing to be a blank piece of paper, but also to have behind the screen the necessary tools to contribute to the creative process. Always with a good predisposition, because there may be days when you get a bit lost in the middle, you're more in your own world or you don't feel 100% present. That sometimes creates friction, although I'm not saying it's wrong; in short, I don't think there's a right or wrong thing to do. But as David Lynch says, negativity is one of the enemies of creativity, and in an artistic process it's important to maintain an energy that adds up.

As a dancer, your body is your capital, what do you do for yourself, to preserve your physique?

I drink lots of water, go to the gym and try not to eat too much sugar. The most important thing is to be fit, healthy and strong.

A career in ballet has an expiry date, how do you prepare for it, what are your aspirations, would you like to be a choreographer or rather a ballet teacher?

Yes, the ballet career itself has an expiry date. I don't know when it will be, to be honest, maybe in a few years. But I don't see it as an end for my dance. In fact, I don't think there is an end as such. I feel that the paths are transforming and that my dance, my ballet, my knowledge will always be within me, helping me in whatever I want to do, whatever it is. I see myself on a path of creation, on a path of being a creator. That's how I see it today and that's how I feel, so maybe that's how it will be. Maybe yes, sharing the ballet too, but I see myself in many worlds, not just one... art is infinite...

What has been the most unusual or comical situation that has happened to you in your life or career that you can (and will) relate to the readers?

EPA: One of the most special memories I have is of my first performance of Pierre Lacotte's La Sylphide at the Teatro Colón. I was very little, the first time I danced there, and I had the role of coryphaea. I remember that, in the final salute, the sylphides had a specific choreography: standing up, we would go down one by one on our knees in a semicircle, then we would turn and stand up again. I was the first to start and the last to get up.

When it was my turn, they turned on the theatre lights and I just stared at them. I couldn't believe so much beauty, so much magic concentrated in one place. It was a moment that overwhelmed me. Suddenly, in the distance, I heard a voice calling me: ‘Emilia, get up. Get up, Emilia, get up.’ Then I reacted and stood up. I don't know how much time really passed, but for me it was an instant of absolute amazement.

I later took this anecdote to a drama school I entered while working. I used it as part of my admission, and it was very special - it's a memory I carry in my heart!

Entrevistas