Crumlin based dancer Alessandra Azeviche stars in Physical Landscape Photo by Marta Rodriguez
Crumlin dancer joins new John Scott show
“WORKING with him on a piece that bridges cultures and explores such vital human themes is always an honour” explains Crumlin-based dance artist Alessandra Azeviche regarding choreographer John Scott.
Scott and Irish Modern Dance Theatre (IMDT) create a ‘Physical Landscape’, with six “outstanding” international dancers.
This dance event features urgent physicality, sensuality, weighted duets, and frantic ensemble pieces responding to ecology and nature.
The show explores the themes of “the other” and “the witness” in a way that is both “moving and life-affirming”.
The main premise of the piece is a big on-stage play with letters of the alphabet; these letters relate to environmental issues and are driven by dance triggers that are integral to the piece.
‘Physical Landscape’ is funny work and offers a unique audience integration where they experience the immediacy of athletic dance with a close proximity to the duets in the show.
One of the dancers featured in this piece is Alessandra, who originally grew up in Salvador, Bahia, the “heart” of Afro- Brazilian culture and the largest African diaspora population outside of Africa.
Her artistic practice bridges ancestral body movements with contemporary performance, exploring themes of counter-colonisation, intersectionality, and cultural education.
Since moving to Ireland in 2015, she has worked extensively across the Irish arts sector as an ambassador of Afro-Brazilian culture.
Alongside her performance work, Alessandra is “deeply committed” to community building.
She is part of the Board of Directors for the Dublin Dance Festival and an associate artist at Project Arts Centre, and she started the multicultural Afro-Brazilian community Quilombo Terra in 2023 through the Five Lamps Arts Festival.
Quilombo Terra started off as a “simple desire to find a sense of belonging and bring Afro-Brazilian culture centre stage to Ireland”, which nowadays has eight “incredible” leaders keeping the momentum alive.
Receiving two Dublin Fringe Award nominations for her acclaimed solo debut ‘Terra’ “blew me {Alessandra} away”, and it gave her a “lot of fuel” to keep pushing the boundaries of her solo and collaborative practice.
Alessandra has been working with John Scott and Irish Modern Dance Theatre since 2021, with John challenging her to “dream bigger” and be “far more ambitious” about her contemporary dance practice beyond community engagement alone.
She is excited to perform with her fellow dancers Adam O’Reilly, Boris Charrion, Favour Odusola, François Malbranque, Vini Martins and Magdalena Hylak, as sharing the stage with this ensemble is always an “electric” experience.
Alessandra is currently developing a new work-in-progress titled ‘Cosmophobia’, which aims to challenge the “institutional ignorance sustaining both ecological ruin and our existential dread of the cosmos”.
Its main question is “Is fear a primal instinct or a symptom of modern alienation?” drawing on the Brazilian activist, academic and quilombo leader Mestre Nêgo Bispo’s revolutionary theories.
Alessandra hopes audiences walk away from John Scott’s ‘Physical Landscape’ feeling “deeply alive, moved, and more connected to the idea of shared humanity”.
She wants spectators to feel the “urgency and vitality” of the piece but also to reflect on “how we witness one another, how we carry our histories, and how we can coexist across our differences with radical empathy and solidarity”.
‘Physical Landscape’ has its opening preview in St Kieran’s Hall in Cloughjordan, Tipperary, at 7pm on October 25, followed by another preview in the space upstairs in Dublin’s Project Arts Centre on October 27 at 7:30pm.
The show will have its world premiere at the Project Arts Centre on October 28, running until October 31 at 7:30pm each evening.
It will have a final performance in the Black Box Theatre in Galway at 8pm on November 2.
‘Physical Landscape’ is funded by the Arts Council and features dance choreography by John Scott, music composed by Jürgen Simpson, and lighting design by Eric Würtz.
For more information, visit projectartscentre and irishmoderndancetheatre.
