Miguel meets Karima . 2006

MIGUEL MEETS KARIMA

Hello Karima,

I'm sorry to give you news sooner but actually I just had a very rushed time with all these travels and works so close. I've been thinking a lot in our collaboration and the way things ends in Rio - for me at least - and I have a very weird sensation of it.

Actually I start to realise that our collaboration it's not definitely a cultural but a personal problem, so my difficulty is more about to deal with you as a person than with your cultural frame. And it's not a problem of difficulty or fear or given up. Usually I like to work with difficult challenges but I don't think that it's healthy to punish ourselves (at least I).

As we developed our collaboration in a very psychological way, 'like a marriage' - and this is not a criticism - for me now it's impossible to separate this item from our artistic process. I feel that I don't want to continue something artistically based on that. But I don't have any solution for it.

So, if you have an idea or if you have thought about it, please say something. Otherwise it's better to admit that our collaboration doesn’t work and we have to stop it and continuing our own processes. I'm sorry to be so direct. I would like that things were different but I cannot afford to change it. I hope that everything is going well with you, hope to hear from you soon,

Kiss,

Miguel

Hello Miguel,

I am glad the presentation went well and that you are happy with it. It seems you were well supported by the presence of the 3 ladies, Cristina, Nayse and Catarina!

I am sure there was a lot of information going on in there and hope that this experience has helped in some way to clarify the process or maybe not!

I certainly agree on finding a way to continue this collaboration and/or deciding on whether we are going on with it. As for collaborating in peace I personally don’t have a problem nor do I feel that there should be. For me we talked, we decided to experiment separately, a lot of good came out of it and some things were cleared for me. I think we can continue to talk without holding grudges that will definitely interfere with the process and make it impossible.

What am I saying? Well, if we decide to continue and collaborate I think it will have to be through thick and thin (like a marriage)! I'm not trying to scare you but I think to believe that everything would go nice and smooth is naive! The question is, how much are we tolerant of the other? How much of ourselves are we willing to put in? How much risk are we willing to take? How can we deal with our weaknesses? How much of those do we recognize and admit to? Is this process really relevant to our artistic development? If Yes, why? If No, why?

I once again as we talked before I want to clarify the way I see it. It is not about proving our point on the account of the other nor is it about negating the other. We both have something to offer and it’s about agreeing on disagreeing also, as well as finding common ground and creating the dynamics between both. It all sounds very theoretical but there might be some truth in it!?

Anyway, it would be good to continue our dialogue via email and hope we are able to reach a clear vision for this project. Let me know if there was any interesting feedback, comments or criticism regarding the showing in Rio.

Hope you have a good performance in England. We talk soon all the best.

Kisses,

Karima

This piece is the result of a collaboration that I developed with Karima Mansour, an Egyptian dancer and choreographer, between September 2004 and June 2006, in the context of two residency projects: “The Travel” (Italy, Spain and Portugal) and “Close Encounters” (Portugal, Brazil and Egypt). At the end was decided that each of us would do a solo. We were commissioned by Alkantara Festival to show the result and presented both solos in the same space, one after the other. I was first and Karima was after me.

This was my proposal.

Miguel Pereira

Conception and performance

Miguel Pereira

Dramaturgical collaboration

Roger Bernard; Rui Catalão

Costume execution

Mónica Bertran

Executive production

O Rumo do Fumo (Lisboa); Alkantara (Lisboa) e Panorama Rio Dança (RJ)

Co-Production

Festival Alkantara 2006; Panorama Rio Dança; O Rumo do Fumo; MAPA – Cel-lula Sant Mori; Jangada de Pedra; Galeria ZDB