Tanzquartier Wien

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Gianna Virginia Prein: Choreographing or dancing?

Camilla Schielin: Dancing.

GVP: Why PARASOL? Why not?

CS: I like the PARASOL concept; I think there is very little to be said against it. Plus, for me, Ian and Alix are inspiring artists. In addition to my own work, I find it very rewarding to perform for other choreographers and immerse myself in their working methods and processes. And, of course, there are pragmatic reasons as well: there is rent to be paid, and freelancing is often precarious. It feels like there are very few publicly advertised positions for performers in Vienna. Being employed for six months during the year is pretty rare for a freelancer.

GVP: Unfortunately, I wasn’t in Vienna for your last performance, in a tryst. What’s on your mind at the moment? (…in your practice?)

CS: After my last piece, I developed a particular interest in artistic work as such. There is a very cyclical aspect to preparing a moment – the moment of performance – for such a long time: but then that moment is over again very quickly, only for the next process to begin. I am interested in how these processes are put together, how they may have a lasting effect, and what it means to be a performer and make artistic decisions. How a common experience can be created, and what the relationship between performer and spectator is. What do I want to share, and how can I be a kind of host? It’s very precious for one or more bodies to get so much attention.

GVP: Depending on the audience, the relevance of these issues may vary: are they colleagues confronted with similar problems or persons who are not themselves practitioners in the fields of art and culture? Points of friction automatically arise because artistic work as a theme touches, among other things, on the general topic of “work as such” and on social aspects as well. In this, the cyclical can continue ad infinitum, as long as it’s going somewhere, ideally in such a way that the realities being negotiated somehow adjust themselves accordingly. What difficulties do you encounter in performing?

CS: That depends very much on the material, but I wish always to be able to rest in the respective material during the performance. I found Ian’s transparency practice very helpful in this regard. In the initial version, one person entered the “stage space” but remained standing. The others were watching. The person performing just was, as it were. They observed what the situation did to them: Does the heartbeat increase? What is happening in the body? How can one be permeable in the situation but maintain a connection with the others? This is how relations and relationships are negotiated when we share a space together.

GVP: What, if anything, has left the most marked influence on you from Ecto-Fictions?

CS: The encounter with the horses was very special. Being face to face with such a large living being has heightened my awareness of what is happening around me. Which signals I send, which signals reach me and whether I can read them. How can this experience be utilised? How can sensitivity be negotiated when the setting is no longer a stable but instead Hall G and thus a stage associated with responsibilities or perhaps obligations?

GVP: What are these responsibilities or obligations of the stage, in your opinion?

CS: Obligation is perhaps too strong a word. Let’s settle for responsibility. For me, it probably means trying to reach the audience or create a moment of connection, even if that may be broken again later.

GVP: Is there something you haven’t yet dared to do but would like to do?

CS: I was going to say “start a band”, but that doesn’t really apply because it’s already happened. But we’ve only had one band rehearsal so far. Okay, so it’s making my own music and writing music.

GVP: Does it have a name yet?

CS: Oh, this is, in fact, where things come full circle with PARASOL because the band is called Hotline Calypso. And Calypso is my horse name from the rehearsal process with Ian.

Camilla Schielin is a dancer and performer based in Vienna. She studied contemporary dance and performance both in Austria and Germany and has since worked with, among others, Nick Mauss on a project for the Museum Ludwig in Cologne as well as with Doris Uhlich in Vienna. In 2021, she showed her solo take me to my house as part of the Rakete festival at TQW.