10 February 2013

Passion Portrait: Sandy Silva

SANDY SILVA-   DANCER & CHOREOGRAPHER-   I thought I was going to be a healthcare practitioner. I was on my way to college and stopped off at a festival and saw dancers and musicians playing together. I was completely blown away by their conversations. The way they talked to each other and listened with their instruments and bodies was all so rhythmic. Eventually I was living in a house with musicians. Between classes and studies, I would listen to them practice with a metronome and play tunes through the night. I couldn’t get enough of it and I wanted a piece of it. I knew that to fully immerse myself, I would need to travel, discover new cultures, embody their percussive dance language, listen and embrace their music. Everything I do now comes from my travels and life experiences. I don’t feel that it was conscious choice. I was simply obsessed.   The work became an unending process. When you repeat something a thousands times, you get it in your body and it becomes you. I think I found what I loved and just rode the wave. It wasn’t “should I” or “can I”,  I just had to do it!   I never auditioned, because I never had to. I know this might sound slightly cocky, but I was one of the few people doing it! When I travelled for work, study or to festivals, I would listen to musicians and if I liked what I heard, I would ask if I could go in the corner and dance a little. They would reply: “Get out of the corner!”. Sometimes I would get a gig with them or even a small tour months or even years later.   There’s still more to learn and thankfully, there’s also more I want to do. As I get older and listen to my body, I have to adapt to where I am physically and spiritually while exploring what is true to me. That is where the work comes from. Naturally, I am not the same as I was in my 30's or even early 40's. I want to continue to explore and refine ways to speak with my body and share it with other people.   Website: http://www.sandysilvadance.com/