Restriction of movement and prohibition of touch is harsh on us all, but for a dancer it has a whole other currency.
On 26 April 2020, I skyped Croatia-based dancer and performer Mia Kevo, from Sydney to Split, to hear how Corona-situation affected her personally and professionally; what are her views on zoom-performances; and how she has managed to maintain her dance practice in this time of prescribed physical distancing? As she anticipated the post-Corona future, Mia expressed her concern whether we will be measuring distances for quite some time, and what will this mean for the performing arts?
Ira Ferris: How long has it been since you've been in isolation, practicing social distancing?
Mia Kevo: It's been more than a month; since the middle of March. I was just finishing my, well I didn't know it was going to be my last rehearsal in Rijeka. The panic about Corona virus started and I initially thought it's going to be just for a short time, it's not a big deal, it's just a precaution. I thought, after two weeks everything will calm down and I will go back to work and continue to have rehearsals and all the preparation for performances, because it was supposed to be a really, really productive year for me. But, this thing just developed and got really serious; everything closed and we were not allowed to move out of our homes anymore. It was really challenging; all of a sudden, everything just stopped. I didn't know what to do. What is going to happen with all of our work and where will we go from here?
Ira Ferris: How did you manage to cope with it?
Mia Kevo: Well, I started to think this may be an opportunity to reflect a little bit. To reflect on where I am going, what am I going to do. Because, at that point I was all the time moving from Split to Rijeka to Zagreb; I was really active. And I thought maybe it's time to calm down right now and get in touch with myself, get in touch with my mind and my body. So, for the first two weeks, I was really concentrating on all those feelings and I was reflecting on my life. Because my life has been very intense, which I like - I like to move and I like to work, and I like to travel and this nomadic lifestyle suits me because it gives me a feeling of being alive; because movement and moving is life. So, it's actually really difficult for me to stay somewhere for long. But what is interesting is that I found this Corona period really productive and inspiring. It triggered some ideas and I started making some little films as a way to reflect on this current situation and stay in practice and work. And I have noticed that other people are also responding to it in creative ways so I feel that this isolation and quarantine is a mother of creativity. Suddenly there are so many short works or long works, people are making things at home, expressing how they feel about this situation, and connecting on some level with one another. So, I find it really interesting that we are able to find optimism and hope in this situation.
Ira Ferris: I am imagining that this physical restriction, this restriction of movement is especially challenging for you as a dancer?
Mia Kevo: Well, it's interesting. At the beginning, once they restricted the movement and told us we can't go anywhere, I felt so much rebellion. I thought, what do you mean I cannot move? You cannot tell me that I cannot move; of course I can move! I will move! I was afraid, you know, of this possibility of the totalitarian regime and it was difficult and strange to accept what was going on and say: 'Ok, I will not move; I will not go anywhere.' Of course, you cannot be stupid and just walk around, and on some level I agree with this restriction but I agree with caution. Somewhere deep inside me there was resistance, and fear. What if it's going to be like this all the time, you know? Do we have to just get used to this? Is this going to be our future? What about dance and what about our future performances? Are they all going to be two metres apart, or will people just do solo works? You know, lately I'm really wondering what will it look like once this is over. What will the first theatre performance after all this look like? What is it going to be? Who is going to make this first performance? So, all this post-Corona situation is really interesting to think about. How will it affect us?
Ira Ferris: What are you predicting?
Mia Kevo: It will for sure redefine all aspects of our life, particularly in theatre. It is going to be interesting, how it is going to look like. Will the audience sit two metres apart? Are there going to be just solo works or will people performer with two metres distance? I'm a little bit afraid because in dance we are close to each other; it is all about the contact. So, I am worried and I was thinking; maybe they will never let us work again because of this touching aspect. I was really worried about it at some point; how it's going to be and when will we be able to work again. And then, even when the possibilities to perform open again, the audience will be afraid to come and gather. People will probably be in some kind of post-traumatic stress after this.
“One of the first three words that comes to my mind in relation to Corona virus is ‘choreography’.
It is interesting how we move on the streets, how we walk, how we behave in our own houses and apartments, at the markets. Everyone is very careful, measuring the distance all the time. And I wonder, how will we clear our minds from all that and come close again?”
Ira Ferris: You and I actually met due to Corona virus, in a way, because we both participated in an online/zoom workshop led by poet Neva Lukic and performance artist Josipa Bubas. And when we met, I asked you what inspired you to participate and you said two things: one, that you wanted to do something with your time and this situation; and two, that you were sceptical about online performances and wanted to check them out. How are you feeling about them now that you have had the experience? Was is pretty much how you have imagined it, or were you surprised in any way?
Mia Kevo: Yeah, I'm still pretty sceptical about it. Performing arts are really about this word 'alive'. It has to be live, otherwise you miss this communication, this dialogue with other performers and with the audience. This exchange makes it what it is. And it's so weird, you know, to be on zoom. Two days ago, I actually read an article about how zoom is exhausting us, because it's like you are watching TV and the TV is watching you. Or, the writer was saying, imagine you were in a bar and in that bar are your parents and your professor and you're also on a date, so everything at the same time. But, you know, weirdly I am also open to trying it out and maybe we can find something exciting in it. But for the long term, I am not sure about it. If a performance is not specifically made for film or video, then for me it doesn't make sense to show it via the screen, via an online platform. But saying that, because we are still in this isolation, next week I will have a rehearsal on zoom and I'm really curious how it's going to look and feel like, because it's already a finished work so we will have to reconstruct the whole methodology of moving. It could be really interesting. But, you know, I do get really tired on zoom because of all this buffering and the bad connection, echo and so on. It all drains your energy. But then again, as I am saying, all that can also be really interesting and you can play with it, you can use it.
Ira Ferris: Are these the rehearsals for an online performance, or?
Mia Kevo: Well, we have a performance scheduled for beginning of May and yes, it will probably be online. I don't know what it will turn out like. But we are open to try and to see what it will bring to us. None of us have experience in online performances and online rehearsals; it is all still very foreign and strange, to work on choreography when you cannot feel other bodies, you cannot connect with them. And it certainly is unusual to work this way, but it is as it is. We don't have many options right now, so why not try? And as I said, it could be very exciting; we might find new ways of moving, new ways of performing. But I'm not the happiest person on the planet with online performance; that's for sure.
Ira Ferris: You are mentioning finding new ways of moving which brings me to a question about an organisation DIVERT you are a part of, a dance collective that includes disabled and non-disabled dancers, and I am wondering if you see any connection between the restriction of movement imposed by Corona situation and the restriction of movement that we as society impose on some bodies, in general?
Mia Kevo: Yes, you could compare the two. It is the case, that the society puts those restrictions of movement onto people whose bodies are out of the prescribed 'norm'. There are so many bodies that are on the edges of society and are not allowed to speak; if we are talking about body language here and the language of dance. And this all reveals our construction of what dance is and how we think of it. Dancing body does not have to be perfect, and what does perfect even mean? Our society has this value of beauty and sees beauty under certain terms and conditions. But I am really interested in the performativity of a different kind of body, because everybody is different. And I think contemporary dance is, or was originally, based on different bodies. This is how it started. It started really rebellious; rebelling against the perfect ballet bodies. DIVERT is not about disability at all. It is about seeing beyond visibility; about seeing a body expressing itself. And yes, this is still confronting in our society; people are still surprised seeing us all together on stage. We need to rethink some values that are seen as social norms. And we need to rethink what dance is; what the dancing body is and what it can be. Because there are so many possibilities, and wider variety of bodies the more creative the whole process can be.
Ira Ferris: What are the three words you would use to describe the current situation we are in, the Corona pandemic situation of physical distancing and isolation?
Mia Kevo: Hmmm... Going in... Reflecting... And ... well choreography. It is interesting how we move on the streets, how we walk, how we behave in our own houses and apartments, at the markets. Everyone is very careful, looking at each other, measuring the distance all the time. Can I come closer? Do I need to step back? You know, the other day I was at the market and ran into a friend (and we were both wearing masks), and as soon as I saw her my instinct was to hug her. It just happened automatically. It's really hard to control. And this is why I am interested in questioning how close will we be to one another, physically, even after the virus. I think this fear is so deep and it will stay around for some time; this restriction and this distance. How can we clear our minds from all that and come closer again? How can we let go of this fear and regain trust again? I mean, trust in ourselves, so we are not worried we are carrying some virus and could infect someone. I'm hoping that it's not going to be like that. I know that in the end the hugs will win, and we will hug each other no matter what. Because love and hugs are what we need. And it has to be stronger than some virus. But still,… it will be interesting to see how it's going to be. How we will feel our bodies in space with other bodies. And I really hope that our future is not going to be a two metres distance future because, you know, sometimes these two metres feel like 10 metres distance. I got this feeling when I first met with a friend and we were, of course, at this distance, sitting and talking and I got this sense she is so far away and I almost couldn't hear her. It was just so unnatural, so strange. But then, we were also exploring how can we be close even while far away from each other. Because in some ways, distance means nothing because we are all connected, we are all together in this strange experience.
[Recorded 26 April, 2020]