Hello CPI

QUESTION 01

Please introduce yourself briefly.

Jorge Abraham Guillen Ortiz born in Monterrey, Mexico, graduated in 2012 from the Superior School of Music and Dance of Monterrey, through a scholarship, and continued my studies for a short stay at CODARTS / Rotterdam, Holland. I participated in the short film "Intrinsic Moral Evil" with the director Harm Weistra and the choreographer Fernando Domínguez, filmed and performed in Amsterdam, Holland; Season with the "Production UNAM Danzando a Márquez"; Corps of ballet in the Company of Ballet and Circus of Mexico;

I participated in the Cervantino Guanajuato International Festival, Oaxaca International Dance Perform (MIDO), Raúl Flores Canelo Center Zone Festival, Extremadura International Dance Festival and Onésimo González International Contemporary Dance; I had been invited as a soloist with the Classical Ballet Company of Sinaloa A.C.

I worked on different sets with RisingArts by Rodrigo González and Raúl Tamez, participated at Internationales Solo Tanz Festival 2018 in Stuttgart, Germany. In addition to practice as an independent artist, I currently directs "Proyecto 3".

QUESTION 02

How did you come to participate in the CPI program and what was the biggest goal for you?

I saw the call through a group of faceboook in Mexico that is responsible for distributing information about international calls and decided to apply for the program. For years I have been observing the cultural movements in South Korea, as well as its openness towards the improvement of the socio-cultural environment through international exchanges. By now, being in the middle of the cultural exchange here in Seoul, South Korea, I can say that the greatest achievement has been to be able to share with people from different environments, with different ways of thinking and acting on the challenges that life itself presents us, not only as a cliché established within this type of exchange activities, but with the real learning of it; great learning for those who are fortunate to participate in the SiDance 2019.

Without taking into account the English language, I think dance and culture is a means of communication as effective and of high value in terms of the transmission of personal, external and social criticism discourses. It is clearly another tool to bring society closer to the sensitive and much needed side, given the situation of global violence that we currently live.

In addition to all this, it has been an added value and of immense satisfaction and gratitude, to have the opportunity to present my professional work within the network of festivals in South Korea, .

QUESTION 03

There was a performance on October 10th, please explain what kind of performance it was. Also, what was the difficulty or memorable about preparing for the performance?

When we knew about the main theme of the festival, which also would be our premise of work when making our collective creation, our first thought was how our speech would be, given that the current situation in which we live; we are full of violent episodes, that’s why, we believed that was not necessary to show more violence or to deal with violence through more violence. Sometimes it is necessary to rethink our positions and the way of addressing a discourse of social criticism; therefore our presentation of the contemporary dance work Vurugu focuses on showing moments and images which we believe we can offer an option more for the difficult task of eradicating this present evil. The difficulties were mainly the languages, the different previous preparations of each one of the members, and the lack of clarity in terms of the technical aspects that could be used in the presentation. We could have always reached an agreement and a solution to move forward, but it was complicated.

Something that remains memorable is the energy of group work that was achieved in just one month, including identifying ourselves as a family; although it seems a lot of work to end with a single presentation by the group.

QUESTION 04

It’s been a while since the CPI program started. Which part was the most helpful and impressive?

Personally, I think, it was to make us really feel part of the SIDance festival, like all other participating international artists.

With access to all the presentations, I found a real concern about the violent situation, and it was very interesting to see how other artists have developed ideas in their presentations through dance, which is what unites us. Also, it was helpful to have facilities such as practicing rooms and financial supports for costumes, scenery things and props.

QUESTION 05

What is your future plan after you go back to your country?

After the program, I'd like to come back and take Master's Degree here in Seoul.
I am eager to continue learning and interacting with the entire movement in the country. Also, it will be good if we can be invited from the festivals in Mexico to present our work Vurugu with the original cast as what we've done in Seoul.