interview with andrea siekavizza weller
by asimplesound
where are you from and how did you get here?
i was born in guatemala and moved to new york when i was 19 years old to start my studies in dance. i moved there because i needed to be exposed to dance outside guatemala. i found a home at the university of the arts in philadelphia where i earned a bfa in modern dance. dance interests me in so many ways, i am very positive and that makes me dream and go for what i know i can do. it is a great way to live life, it inspires you to work hard and achieve what you want.
can you talk about dance in guatemala?
guatemala has a big potential for dance. many people are interested in seeing new performances and being part of them, it is in the stages of growing artistically, from a 
national to an international level. there are some dance companies that have given a lot to the dance field, but we need more support, opportunities and exposure. there are a few festivals that bring companies from all over the world and the response has been positive. artist love to share their art in guatemala, they get to experience another culture and travel in the country. there is always somewhere else to go, and i know that i had the opportunity to study abroad to bring guatemala to the next level in the arts scene.
how has writing influenced your choreography?
writing has been very helpful to my choreography. it is so hard to break down the process of choreography. when i am choreographing i am more sensible to what is happening around me, what i am seeing, hearing and feeling. i usually write down many things and use what i need in my choreography. my last choreography “perception” with a composition by michael wall is a good example of how i use writing. i could see the whole dance in my mind and i wrote it down for him to compose the music. the collaboration was incredible; the music came out better than what i could imagine. it was as if in my writing, he could visualize my dance in a different way that added to my choreography. in montenegro a dance critic told me that he felt i wasn’t doing a solo, but a duet because the music was so alive inside the dance, or the dance inside the music. i can relate with his opinion, writing permitted us to connect in a creative way. i also have writing as a habit, hopefully one day you can read a book of mine. in my website i have a writing space where people can read my thoughts.
describe other international dance communities that you have performed in.
i recently performed in dubrovnik, montenegro and athens. in dubrovnik i performed in a vineyard in the middle of the field, in montenegro i performed in the “montenegrin national state theatre” and in athens i performed in the “world congress for dance research”. each place was so different and unique in its own way. in dubrovnik people had so many questions about modern dance, their response was very positive. it seems as if they are investing more money in 
the arts after the war, you actually have to be there to sense their appreciation for the arts. montenegro is still growing with modern dance; i meet the choreographer that is in charge of the only modern dance company, they started after the war was over and are making their way up. dubrovnik and montenegro were in war and it is amazing to have been in both places, sharing the same choreography and seeing how people could connect with me. athens is very hungry of growing in the dance field, they want to make this congress an opportunity for the whole dance community in the world to meet once a year. UNESCO supports the congress, so it has many advantages. in the three countries, artist talked about money being the number one issue in the dance field. i wasn’t surprised! i believe that we have to work with what we have and move on from there, the world is hungry of art and we define the quality of our work.
what do you find challenging about your developing career as a choreographer/dancer?
to find balance in my life. if i don’t have a balanced life, i have nothing to offer in my work. i learn to find balance while sharing my life with people that i love and people that are outside of what i do. i like to sit down at a park, have a good talk with a person or just hang out. i don’t like to spend all my life inside a studio, forcing myself to do something new or creative. i like to feel human, and when i am being true to myself is when art happens, when my best ideas come and when i can give something to the world. it is a challenge to find my own road, but when i am in peace is because i am where i need to be. as artist we will always have to be creative with the economic process, we also need to make a living as everyone else. i love to read books and talk to people that give advice and learn from their successful lives. independently of what they do, we all live in the same world, it can’t be that hard.
what are you working on now and in the near future?
i am working on my next show which is in three weeks! i am not even in guatemala yet but i am working on it. it will be in an empty house where the empty rooms will be used and the living room will be used as the dance floor. many different people will participate, midori watanabe, from japan, katie rast from u.s.a. and many guatemalan musicians and dancers will join us for the performances. it will be very exciting to make this show happen because we pretty much have one week to work together. i will also keep choreographing and doing collaboration with other artists. i can’t even imagine how many things will come in my way; i have so many people in mind to work with that i need to be there to actually start doing so much. i want to share dance, with many people, i don’t care who you are; dance can do good for you. i promise, it does good to me! it is very exciting to go back home after five years and share so much. i don’t doubt that i will collaborate again with michael wall in a near future, these days we are all connected with stuff like this. life is good!
www.andreasiekavizza.com
