The importance and the challenges of working with an ensemble
Created by Marianna Varviani
March 31, 2022, Los Angeles, California
Photograph from the performance ‘Phoenix’. Choreographed by Marianna Varviani. Performed by: Gurmukhi Bevli, Cheyenne Dixon, Hannah Ferguson, Tyler Law, Sophie Poe, Marianna Varviani, Alexandra Wood, Tanya Xu. Photographed by: Sophia Alexiou
The beauty of ensemble work lies in the combination of possibilities that emerge with many bodies on stage. Whatever the dynamic between life and art may be, one is relative to the other, reflecting, commenting, mimicking, or merely reacting to each other.
As social beings, we survive by interacting with each other. Our every action has a reaction, impact, and meaning. Therefore, we can say our artistic choices are also political. Even in the absence of explicit political references, the form and format of our work can reflect relations between individuals, and between individuals and the systems, they belong to. When we work with a greater number of collaborators, on equal terms, we have the chance to multiply people’s contributions. This may result in creating communal experiences, shared moments, memories, and exchanges between a small or large group. In this way, the artistic results will be embodied practices that include and combine the views, thoughts, emotions, voices, and experiences of multiple people whilst sharing a collectively owned artistic piece. As a process, working with an ensemble, aims to build cohesive units while combining the uniqueness of each individual. Consequently, after such projects, artists are able to share their common experiences with the rest of their communities.