VALENTINA CAMPORA (IT/NL)

https://www.facebook.com/valentina.campora.96 dvale50@hotmail.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsSRst5H-d8

photo by Sara Anke

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1979, she studied at the artistic Lyceum Nicolo’ Barabino in Genoa. From 1999 to 2001 she studied Philosophy at the University of Genoa, then she decided to move to The Netherlands to study at the Theaterschool of Amsterdam, where she graduated in 2005 as a Bachelor of dance (BA). In 2006 she moved back to Italy where she continued her studies at the University and in 2009 she got her degree in D.A.M.S. (Disciplines of Art Music and Performance) at the University of Literature and Philosophy of Genoa.

In 2003 she worked with Jakop Ahlbom (NL) in Lost. Then since 2005 she worked in several sectors such as education and care for the social service company Agora’ of Genoa (IT) and worked in the Tourist information service in Genoa. Next to this she also taught contemporary and ballet classes to amateurs. From 2008 to 2014 she worked with the Italian/Dutch based choreographer Gabriella Maiorino and Dansmakers Amsterdam (NL), performing in the pieces ZOO with an extensive Dutch & international tour in Kunstlerhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt), Dansens Hus Oslo (NO), Festival Punto Aparte (ES), etc; and Kunikuli (Trilogia del Desiderio) a duet with more than 20 performances in The Netherlands; for IOVIODIO, A Divine Threesome, Touch it!, Psyche. She danced and collaborated in the creation of Supernova, at Over het IJ Festival and at the opening of Museum night 2012 in the Eye Museum, Amsterdam (NL). She assisted the choreographer for the piece NERA created for the Theaterschool and the event ‘I like to watch too’ Amsterdam 2011, teaching as well workshops around the contents of the pieces in, ArtEZ - Arnhem Dansacademie, Codarts Rotterdam, Theaterschool Amsterdam Umbriagiovani (IT), Dansmakers Amsterdam (NL) and more worksops in Holland. During this period, besides Gabriella, Valentina has worked as an extra with choreographer Ann Van De Broek and film director Mike Figgis for the shooting of the film ‘Cotolette’, among others. She partecipated in several research project and she organized in collaboration with Gabriella Maiorino, Cristina Planas Leitao and Jette Schneider at DANSLAB Den Haag (NL), the series of encounters choreographers/dancers (with Mor Shani, Leine en Roebana, Jack Gallagher, Giulia Mureddu, Gabriella Maiorino).

In 2013 she co-founded the dance company CLANCARNAL together with Gabriella Maiorino and Adrian Sneeuw. In 2013 she became a freelancer and she has danced and collaborated, with among others, Erik Kaiel (US/NL) in ‘Connects the dots’ performed several times in Germany, Belgium and Holland; with Makiko Ito in Wonderland, music dance and lights improvisation performance for and with children, Amsterdam (NL). Valentina is an active participant and collaborator in the Amsterdam music and dance scene. She started the on going research on ‘Clessidra’ together with Andy Moor, guitar player of the famous dutch band The Ex, performed at Cine Tonala, Mexico City (MX),

Cafe’ Oto, London (UK), Perdu Theater Amsterdam (NL), Ot301 Amsterdam (NL). In 2014 she started the on going dance film research ‘Safe piece’ (working title), OT301 Amsterdam (NL), empty hall of Le Theatre, Saint Nazaire (FR), studio of the dance company LeineRoebana AMsterdam (NL) and the on going research on ‘Identicality’ together with Claudia Zunino and Andy Moor (The Ex), Teatro Akropolis, Genova (IT), Choreographic centre of La Gomera, (ES). Currently she is collaborating with Cristina Planas Leitao at the creation of FM [featuring mortuum] at Lugar Instável in Porto (PT), CAPA in Faro (PT), Dance Ireland in Dublin (IR), Dansatelier in Rotterdam (NL), Espaço do Tempo in Montemor-o-Novo (PT) and Teatro Municipal do Porto (PT) and she is also collaborating as dancer in ‘Battle Abby’ as part of Heather Ware’s (LeineRoebana) two years new makers development program supported by the Stichting Niemijer Fonds in Den Haag (NL). As a guest teacher she is regularly invited to teach contemporary dance with a specific focus on floor-work at Dance Company De Stilte (NL), the Theaterschool of Amsterdam and at Henny Jurriens Foundation in Amsterdam (NL). In her class, Valentina combines the knowledge gathered during her years of working as a dancer together with other choreographers and colleagues with a particular focus on aspects of alignment and stability of the body. Throughout her studies and professional career she has always combined her interest and experience in visual art, film, philosophy and performance.

photos by Sara Anke

Identicality IDENTICALITA’ by Valentina Campora in collaboration with Andy Moor and Claudia Zunino

Residencies in 2015-16: Teatro Akropolis, Genova (IT); Centro coreografico de La Gomera (ES). Credits: concept and direction: Valentina Campora; performers: Valentina Campora, Claudia Zunino; composer: Andy Moor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Moor_%28The_Ex%29 INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT “Our nervous system is built to enable us to make contact with the nervous system of other human beings and it allows us to experience the other as if we were inside their very skin, giving us the opportunity to understand their own intentions and to feel in our own body what they are feeling.” (Ammaniti, Gallese, 2014).

IDENTICALITY is a dance duo in which the theme is the study of the relationship between two people.

The performers are two women linked by a blood relationship.

About the work: The concept of Identicality is based on a type of meditation that aims to reach a perception of the partner and of one’s self at the same time; during this meditation we aim to be inside and become like the other person. We attempt to perform the same actions as if our nervous systems are fused as one.

The two performers are in fact partially identical in the sense that they share part of the same genetic heritage. In my opinion this type of meditation created a strong connection regarding the theme of ‘mirror neurons’ which became in turn a source of inspiration for us.

Another source of inspiration in this project is the myth of Narcissus and the psychological attitude of “Narcissism”. In particular the contradiction between the aspects of ‘potential’, intrinsic to the moment of recognition and approach of an image to which we are attracted, and of ‘failure’ of the achievement of an inter-personal relationship due to the annihilation of Narcissus into the image of himself.

We are dealing with an impossible task. Indeed, the attempt by two people, to become the same image at the same moment can catastrophically reveal the differences that always marks us as unique human beings. This introduces the aspect of irony, which arises from the contradiction of the assumption we desired to arrive at. Irony is fundamental to this research.

WHAT DO I WANT TO ACHIEVE AND ACQUIRE FROM THIS RESEARCH I am deeply interested in the idea of showing ‘failure’ on stage. I find it intriguing and leading to a potentially creative state. I also want to challenge myself by revealing on stage: - the tension between two people attempting to move towards a state of being identical to the other.

- the achievement of a state of empathy that leads us towards (audience and performer) �being perceived as the same person. - I want to celebrate the phenomena of the motor circuit as “not anymore mere controller and �generator of movements and behaviours but as a source of understanding on a pre-conceptual and prelinguistic level of the meaning of the things of the world”.

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SAFE PIECE by Valentina Campora in collaboration with Andy Moor

Performances: March 2014 Ot 301 Amsterdam (NL); July 2014 Le Theatre Saint-Nazaire (F); November 2014 OT 301 Amsterdam (NL); April 2015, Studio Leine&Roebana, Amsterdam (NL). Credits: concept: Valentina Campora; performers: Valentina Campora, Elio Chaly Campora Moor, Andy Moor; music: Andy Moor (electric guitar); cameras: Hanneke Kuijpers, Isabelle Vigier, Kim Hoogterp; editing: Valentina Campora. Special thanks to: OT 301, Le Theater Saint-Nazaire, Leine&Roebana, Emma Fischer, Joost Rekveld. video links of ‘Safe piece’ will be sent on a separate email About the work: "Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers." (Heraclitus) Safe piece is a dance and music improvisation project aiming to the creation of a film. The performers are three and linked by a blood relationship. They are a woman (Valentina Campora), a man (Andy Moor, guitarist of The Ex) and their son (Elio Campora Moor). The location of the performance changes from a theater, to a dance studio or to another space that the performers transform in their set. The performance begins with a woman standing still at the background with her back towards us. Slowly small movements appear on her torso deriving from the body contact with the child that she is holding in her arms; he is almost invisible to us. The participation of the child to the scene, in combination with the music and the dance, determines the development of the performance. How further will the performance exist when put together with this trench of daily life? Will the dimensions of performance and real life collide with each other? Which similarities and differences will emerge from the juxtaposition of these two layers and what can be defined as performance rather than a regular daily life moment? Each performance is different from the other one even if we attempt to recreate exactly the same. From one performance to the next one the growing of the child and its different stages of development are visible and therefore amplify the perception of each present moment being different from the previous one. Just as each performing act it’s unique in itself. My interest as performer lays on the emerging of important reflection points about the theme of performance and also about the theme of working as an artist-parent. The project is articulated through a series of performances/events on a regular basis of about every 4 months. These events are filmed and the video material obtained will be used for the creation of the film. Safe piece contains two souls, the performance and the documentation through film.

CLESSIDRA by Valentina Campora and Andy Moor

Performances: 2014 Cine Tonala, Mexico City (MX); Cafe Oto, London (UK). 2015 Theater Perdu - Crossing Paths - , Amsterdam (NL); OT 301 Amsterdam (NL).

About the work 'Clessidra' is a research on loud and unstoppable playfulness between guitar and dance. Dancer Valentina Campora and guitarist Andy Moor create an 'arc of time' which they share with the audience with intimacy, high tension and hilarity .

Credits: Andy Moor (electric guitar) Valentina Campora (dance). video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=IsSRst5H-d8

PRESS & LINKS OF PREVIOUS WORK: “Low lights, a woman in half darkness, in a monumental posture; she reminds of the "Discobolo of Mirone". She remains minutes in the posture; she wants to be watched and she wants to recover and reveal the sacred value of Art: Art is sacred and has to be admired. �It is the dance of the psyche, of the soul, the one we admire for 15 minutes on stage, on the music of composers Andy Moor and Yannis Kyriakides. A dance in which the spirit is very well performed by the dancer who moves with grace, delicacy and solemnity.” �(stefano duranti poccetti-corriere dello spettacolo, 28 gennaio 2012, �Castiglion Fiorentino)

“On Sunday 9 september the festival Marsciano Arte closed with an extraordinary performance of the dancer Valentina Campora, in front of an enthousiastic audience. The choreography, from Gabriella Maiorino, was the perfect closure for a festival with a high quality level. �(Comune di Marsciano, PG, 19 September 2012)

"Valentina Campora, can be praised ones again with being the dancer who renders Gabriella's movement language in an ideal way." �Stacz Wilhelm, April 2010, Korzo Theater, Den Haag ( Korzo Magazine)

“Psyche” https://vimeo.com/24397909 “Kunikuli” https://vimeo.com/98958833

“Supernova” https://vimeo.com/67557184 “A divine Threesome” https://vimeo.com/44329374 https://vimeo.com/20764129

“Music Dance 301” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Ac7q7D2jA

“FM [featuring mortuum]” http://cristinaplanasleitao.com/pieces/fm/