“Connecting with sensations, emotions and realness of movement”
Robinson Cassarino is an amazing dancer who have been working in Hofesh Shechter Company since 2018.
-You have a really great career, and you have been working in HSC since 2018. What is the key to your successes?
“I don’t think there are keys or codes that bring you where you want to be.
From my experience it’s more a question of « moment », meeting the right person, being there at the right moment, being lucky. I think being surrounded by people that support you and push you up is important as well as believing in yourself.”
-What fascinates you about the work of Hofesh Schecther? And does his work influence your dance?
“There are many things that interest me in Hofesh’s work, but with different aspects.
In terms of movement, the direct connection between the emotions and the movement, the humanity and the sincerity of his choreographic language, is for me really interesting. And feel so good to practice.
In terms of choreography/stage work, I’m fascinated by the harmony and the atmosphere he creates with lights, music and movement. He got this crazy capacity to create a climax and to make it evolve, this always makes people rock their head during shows.
The fact that he composes the music and the movements is truly making a difference on the alchemy of the show for us dancers and becoming a real sensitive experience for the audience.
His work really influences me because I love the sensation it gives me. Movements are at the same time technical and intuitive as walls full of symbols.
And seeing the audience’s reaction after shows make you want to recreate that feeling, to keep on creating emotions.”
-How did you develop your artistry as a dancer?
“I developed my artistry by getting influenced by other artists and by working a lot through improvisation, to find « my dance », my way of moving or expressing my sensations. I had this learning process of how to tell stories with my body.”
-Since HSC became a project based company, you are also a freelancer now. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a freelancer?
“Being a freelancer is hard and exciting, it’s hard because you’re always looking for work, so you can’t rest in this « routine » and this comforting feeling that everything is settled for the next 6 months.
At the same time, this « stress » for work is exciting and challenging because you get to meet and work with many different people and diverse projects, which also feeds creativity.
And of course the economic part of it can be tricky because the salary depends on the project you do so it can be really disproportionate.
And to finish I think being a freelancer asks you to be really focused and aware of what is happening around you so you’re able to catch projects that interest you.”
-How much is important to respect the different personality and uniqueness of each dancer?
“I think it’s really important to respect and even more to embrace the differences of each dancers. That’s actually what is making you unique and interesting to watch.
It’s also what makes you feel good when you move because, you know it comes from your body. I think this « personal feeling » is essential to enjoy dancing.
But at the same time, I believe that it’s really important as well to be able to fit in a group and to work according to its purpose with the people around you. So there is a real balance to find between being who you are, embracing what makes you different and special but being able to forget yourself and to serve the group.”
-How important is to be aware of the totality of the body while dancing?
“For me being aware of the totality of the body while you’re dancing is really important.
Imagine you’re eating a creme bruler with just one side of your spoon.
You will get less taste that if you take a full spoon of it.
I think in dance it’s similar In a way, the more you connect with your all body when you dance the quicker you’ll connect with your sensation, emotions and with realness of the movement.
When you speak you don’t move only your upper lips; you use lips, tongue, saliva, if not we will not understand, so same with the body, you need to feel that everything in the body in involved, if not, nobody will connect to you.”
-What is the role of improvisation and research in personal growth as a dancer?
“For me the role of improvisation and research is essential to evolve and grow as a dancer.
I come from hip hop dance, and we always work by free styling a lot more than actual learning or repeating movement. And I think it’s the best way to grow as a dancer. Because your look for new sensation and ways of moving, that are already in you, you jut have to let them free and enjoy. Working in impro or freestyle helps you as well to develop confidence in your dance and give you strength to « impose » your style, to invite people to connect to it and not create a dance that pleases peoples but has no meaning to you.”
-How important is music for you? And what is your connection with it?
“For me the music is essential.
I need to connect to it, to really feel good in the movement. For me the music and the movement are so connected, a bit like a painting, the music is the frame and the movement the paint.
For me music established the « landscape » your moving in, it gives a rhythm and an energy, a color to your movement, to the story you’re telling.
I love this feeling of killing the beat, and melting with the music.” -
-What catches your attention in another dancer?
“What catches my attention in other dancer is, the universe they create when they move, the facial expressions, the humor they have in their movements.”
-Why do we need dance in society?
“I think we need dance in our society, because it’s just something good...it’s the first and only universal language we have as human. And one of the tool we have to feel good in life .
It’s a really powerful tool to speak to people because you use something everybody has, so you can create images, moment, feelings that everybody will « listen to ».”
-Can you give some advice to young dancers?
“My advices for young dancers (that I am) is to remember that it’s just dance, enjoy and embrace it for yourself. Also, keep yourself open to any life experiences, it will make your dance and yourself grow.”