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Honji Wang & Sébastien Ramirez

Wang Ramirez Company

Under the direction of internationally renowned choreographers Honji Wang (German–Korean dancer, choreographer and artistic director) and Sébastien Ramirez (French–Spanish dancer, choreographer and artistic director), Wang Ramirez Company produces dance-theater pieces that splice together genres as divergent as hip-hop, ballet, contemporary dance and martial arts.

Wang Ramirez are regularly invited to collaborate with renowned artists from the dance world (Akram Khan, Rocio Molina, New York City Ballet's prima ballerina Sara Mearns...), visual arts (Constance Guisset, Os Gêmeos, Andy Serkis, Hussein Chalayan...) or music world (Madonna, Nitin Sawhney...).

Honji Wang is recognized as an artist who brings contemporary and hip hop together in an exceptionally organic fashion. Her dance language is an abstraction of hip hop dance and has influences of earlier martial arts and ballet training.

Sébastien Ramirez specializes in the use of aerial work as well as choreographic rigging development. The underground scene, followed by a number of competitions, collaborations and encounters consolidated his artistic vision.

WangRamirez's artistic residence in December 2020, due to the Covid pandemic, could not take place in the spaces of Oriente Occidente Studio in Rovereto. As 2020 taught us, however, you don't need to be in the same place to share ways of working, thinking and seeing the world. Wang Ramirez's was a remote artistic residency, with video calls for coaching and confrontation by the artistic direction and organization.

The work of the company, entitled YouMe, is an encounter/clash between three female figures: a flamenco dancer, a hip hop dancer and a cellist. At the center of the questions that set the ground for the project, there are three cultures (hip-hop, flamenco and cello) all dominated for a long time by men and where women are now at the forefront. The work seeks a dialogue between different artistic languages.

YouMe. You are you and me was presented in Rovereto as part of Oriente Occidente Dance Festival 2021.

The goal is not a discourse on the differences or similarities of their gestures, their languages. Together, the three performers let emerge a part of mystery that fills the space «between», to take possession of each one. It is in the space «in between» that the choreographic and musical invention that carries this piece, entirely dedicated to human exploration, takes place.

- WangRamirez

wangramirez.com


The project is supported by Fondazione Caritro. Cassa di risparmio di Trento e Rovereto.