Dance

"Con-sequences" is the name of a contemporary dance performance held at the Damascus Opera House this April under the patronage of a German-Syrian cultural exchange of the 'Myosotis Dance Theatre Group'. The Group has recently presented it latest work "Con - sequences" consisting of a satiric image of modern society and of human rights.

The whole project was pulled off by a young couple who are the 'Myosotis Dance Theatre Group'. Both Ingo Schweiger and May Seifan are choreographers and dancers. A team of German and Syrian dancers, designers, photographers, engineers, artists and managers joined forces to share their knowledge, expertise and culture. Quoting from the flyer: "Con-sequences deals with individual awareness struggling to break through the usual rules and standards governing of living; unlike those who view this obscurity as a challenge and a reminder of their inability to change, which is protected by their personal suffering. This inability to change is transformed into violence and vengeance which exhausts the unusual character forcing her into taking an endless retreat".

Interview with Artist Mey Sefan – Assistant choreographer of "Con-sequences" dancing performance. Co-Founder of "Myosotis dance theatre group" and currently working as a free dancer, teacher and choreographer.

Mey Sefan, first Syrian classical ballet dancer with 18 years of experience in the field paid us a visit and answered all our questions about 'Con-sequences' dancing performance. Thank you very much…

1) a) You have pulled off a unique peace of work. Can you tell us more about the organization of the event? And who supported you in this initiative?
"Con-sequences" is a pilot case. The stages of this project can be divided in four major ones:
The birth of the concept: At first we had several sequences in mind reflecting the human being's agony and rebellion against a poisoned social environment thus creating inside each one of us indirect violence. After going to Germany, I have discovered the UN charter for human rights and I realized then the tremendous infringement and violation of the Human rights worldwide. So I decided to share this discovery with my husband Ingo and my friends in Syria and so was born the concept of "Con-sequences".
Second, comes the planning phase and contacting entities and people. My family supported me a lot and was thrilled to have me over for several times during the year. I made contacts with my initial dancing group in Syria and many others like musician and composer Kinan Azmeh for instance who composed the music for "Con-sequences". And third, the dancers' selection. We needed professional dancers in numbers and we needed to form a homogenous group in style, character and skills. So, we made a general announcement for an audition to interview dancers. The announcement was published in Syrian dailies and posted at the Higher Institute for Music and Arts.
After a selection based on specific requirements (knowledge and skilled in classic, contemporary, contact improvisation and theatre) training was conducted during separated time frames: four weeks in summer then another 4 weeks in Christmas and a 10 days intensive before the actual performance.
At this point, it would be relevant to mention that the dancers made fantastic progress as they worked together, although we had to make some sacrifices in the beginning due to some lack of experience mostly in contact improvisation.

b) What communication channels did you use? And what was the overseen budget?
Well, when I say family support, I also meant financially. My father pinched in with other sponsors to make the event happen. The overall budget was about $ 80 thousand. The majority of sponsors kept their word of commitment but others retracted at the last minute.
I made contacts with the Higher Institute for Music and Arts where I worked as a contemporary dance teacher for over a year, and they were kind enough to provide us with space for the audition and the training.2) After reading the explaining thought in the brochure and after seeing you performing on stage, we know for sure that you are the "her" or the self in agony…Can you tell us why?
I've experienced a lot of social and /or peer pressure in my life. In our closed-minded and unexposed society, there are so many taboos that prevent you from seeing the truth and the essence of things. Your eyes are wide shut. To be accepted by others, you have to either be like them or stick to a figure they have created for you. A sort of stereotype they want you to have always. So, this form of indirect violence administered by society also contributes to the formation of agony inside oneself.
Social taboos were represented by the figure of the four monkeys sometimes closing the eye, the ear, the mouth and sometimes the sexual organs. The story is known with 3 monkeys on board but they're actually four, the fourth one having disappeared himself because of a social taboo on sex at a time. 

3) a) What did the glace wall symbolize before flipping to a mirror? And why do we see a person struggling and then you either meet together in harmony or discord…
It is the result of all forms of social violence. The rebellious mind develops a detachment from reality, often with delusions and hallucinations, and withdrawal into the self- welcome to schizophrenia…
When in harmony with others, you mime, you act like others, you're drawn by the social courant but you are false. Otherwise, you tend to discover the pure spirit inside of you that I like to call "Mejaza" (pure spirit). The "Mejaza" reaches out to save you and wake you up. It tries to pull you out from agony and despair to make you realize your rights of freedom and peace of mind.
Well at the end the internal dilemma is so strong that you retreat to reach the "Mejaza" but your pain and your agony are stronger than yourself and your pure ideas so you destroy Mejaza and keep the figure created by others- that's when the mirror appears at the end and 'I' start choking because I have nothing left but a figure.
b) Was the performance a suite or a story with a final message?
There is no story but a sequence of subtitles that people can elaborate on differently…The dancing sequences strive to describe a state of mind in agony- a consequence reached by cumulative violence that can mark it forever by ruining its balance.

4) a) Is there a specific purpose of showing the diapositive of the paintings at the very beginning? We could relate many scenes to some of the paintings…
A matching work with Artist Saad Yagan showed me more how touchy and critical is the subject of social pressure and indirect violence. "Liberation" was the theme of his work: There was a match of senses, satirism and ideas. So, artist Saad Yagan, a good friend was kind enough to combine his work with our efforts and we used his paintings in the introductory scene as a prelude.
b) What about the long monologue at the beginning accompanying the diapositives?
Artist Kinan Azmeh, music composer of "Con-sequences" was reading the UN Charter for Human rights in Arabic and deliberately uttering words and reading it so quickly you could barely follow. This insinuates the difficulty of understanding one's rights and when you do understand them, you realize the unfair infringement inflicted on these rights.

5) We got the feeling that you've expressed the concept more than you've danced it?
Dancing for me is anything that exceeds a foot step. It is a lot richer and deeper than circus dancing. Dancing techniques are implemented to develop the body's abilities and use the body as a tool to deliver a message. For me, dancing is a basic and beautiful instinct, a philosophy…
Indirect impact is the force of the message not the direct expression. In my personal belief, "Chnik Chnak" (which means directly expressive in German) only weakens the message.

7) Would you consider organizing such a bilateral cooperation in the near future?
On the personal level, this project traced the path of peace with my inner self. And on the professional level, we were very happy to conduct German-Syrian cooperation on Syrian soil and give this opportunity to many to work together and be an active part of the cultural dialogue which we intend to keep and promote.