Critica Clarin PACK
23.09.2009 Clarín.com Espectáculos TN
Much More than a Companion
Pack (Dentro de algo) the piece by Vanaga and Onofri works on the partenaire figure
The Company of Contemporary Dance of the IUNA (Instituto Universitario Nacional de Arte, National Univesity Institute of Art) has just started showing a new work by Agnese Vanaga and Juan Onofri, who is also responsible for the idea and the general direction. As to the idea which served as the origins of Pack (Dentro de Algo), it proposes a research on the role which is so present in dance, the “partenaire”. This French term means “associate”, “partner”, “couple”, but in dance, it refers to the dancer who lifts, holds, twirls and/or carries another dancer through the air. Traditionally the leading partenaire role has always been performed by a male dancer who supports a female dancer, but contemporary dance, particularly in the past few decades and with the addition of new techniques, has broadened the horizon and the relationship can take place between two men, two women, or with a woman as leading partenaire.
The choreographers of Pack have surely taken these possibilities into account for an initial exploration and the effects of it are seen in different passages of the work. But they have surpassed the aim of their research and the result is a very interesting creation, which takes elements from other lines of work to successfully tie them together forming an organic whole.