Sebastian Marziali: Artist-Pilgrim, in Peru
September 3, 2014
from Grupo Yuyachkani’s 6th Laboratorio –
Along with 27 other artists from across the Americas I was welcomed into the house of Yuyachkani to share in a truly unique experience.
The Yuyas, as they are affectionately called, have been together as a group for 43 years now. One thing really surprised and inspired me and that was despite all these years together and a shining reputation as one of the grand Latin American theatre groups, they still have an intense hunger and openness to explore and learn that I barely see in many theatre students fresh out of school.
The Yuyas invited us all to share their plays, deconstructions, beliefs, and the creative method that they’ve developed over all these years. Even though we walked in ready just to be taught, the Lab in actuality was a shared exploration. Together with Miguel, Teresa, Ana, Debora, Augusto, Rebecca, y Julián we explored not a rigid formula but rather possibilities for collective creation. They shared with us a selection of some of their most cherished and inspiring repertoire and the deconstructions which gave us a look at the roots of the work and more importantly the real people that gave birth to these characters.
Through our classes in Mask, Voice/ Poetry, Rhythm/ object, and Object and memory we discovered characters, histories and ways of creating together in an effort to share our stories which may come from different countries, roots, and circumstances but share a spirit that is very Latin and very human. Throughout this week, which felt more like a month, I filled myself with information, inspiration, training practices and new methods with which to create work that responds to and denounces the word in which I live. I opened my mind and spirit which took me to new places theatrically and also allowed me to connect with some incredible new friends and collaborators that I plan never to lose touch with.
This was a special experience not only because of how incredible the Yuyas are but also because of every person that I met in the casa Yuyachkani that opened my eyes to the other social and artistic realities that exist between my lands of Uruguay and Canada. There are so many details of which I could write entire papers on that I honestly still don’t know how I could possibly share them all in a blog post so I leave you with some images I was able to capture on my camera phone and a video put together by another participant in hopes of giving you at least a glimpse in to the world I was in.
Video courtesy of: Ezequiel Comeron
Video Content: The audio is a song that a group of us created one night on the beach of Barranco stomping on the smooth rocks, clanging them together for percussion accompanied by our voices and an Indigenous Mexican flute. The video was taken at the closing party of the Laboratorio.
Photo: The Beach in Barranco where we created beautiful music together
Gracias,
Sebastián Marziali
El Canaguayo