ONÌRICO

from People United Mag 01 2021

Tanz und Mutterschaft

↗ — Yuri Fortini ˝ Topper Komm

ONÌRICO, a photoshoot with Gian Marco Funari, who also provided precious pieces of art belonging to his fashion design collection, is an example of partnership that reveals the wide spectrum, where Yuri would like to place his approach to dance and art.

Yuri Fortini

Yuri Fortini is a contemporary dancer at Staatstheater Braunschweig in Germany. Having become more and more oriented towards a fusion and an interaction of diverse art forms lately, he has expanded his field of action and research, collaborating with photographers, video makers and designers.

It is the memory of a dream, You can still feel the rustle of the wind or the smell of the flowers... The dancing soul vibrates in the movements of a body. It sensually and poetically narrates the story of an identity: its own. Singular and unique. It doesn't bare the obsession of fitting into categories, in fact it is in peace with its complexity. An unseparated, fluid, caleidoscopic cosmos. It is hard to let this timeless, evanescent, ethereal atmosphere go. You wish you could never wake up from it and even if you have to, its echo replenishes every aspect of a reality, that now has new perspectives, horizons, tastes and values.

Oniric is a vivid memory, whose ineffable influence keeps fluctuating in the more concrete substance of the days... a palpable, latent presence, that emerges and surprises you like an epifany... the image of a faun who is also a nymph, the synthesis of the opposites that can be understood and felt only for the duration of an instant... An enlightment, a revelation: in the very moment you're hit by it, according to its ephemeral nature, it is already gone, but its halo hovers above your intellect and underneath your consciousness, ready to tickle the core of your person in rare and precious moments of grace.

being capable to give voice to what I perceive as a change in my personality, also integrating a playful approach.

I neither feel the pressure to fit in nor the threat of the judgement because I believe that embracing our complexity and fluidity only offers us more elements and tools to know, respect and appreciate ourselves and the others.

Is playfulness important in creation?

Definitely yes. Playfulness opens the naive, unspoiled perspective and encourages a non-judgemental approach, where one can step out conventional categories and social expectations and reach a very pure and light dimension. In this state, one feels more ready to let go many resistances and all of a sudden, unexpectedly, new ways and paths become accessible.

When mixing all kinds of art forms – where do you locate the body in your work? Is it the fundament of it all or is the body the surface of projection that makes intellectual processes visible?

I truly believe in an inevitable separation between body and mind.When I create, I see images in my mind, which I try to expressthrough my body but through my body I feel, and emotions, sensations,any kind of limitations of the body, like an injury, triggerand stimulate the stream of thoughts in my mind. It is a constant,reciprocating flow, whose elements can neither be separated norprioritised.

Do you think that the spheres female and male are still relevant categories that we humans need to define society?

Feminine and masculine are bluntly separated to differentiate andsimplify but they should be considered as co-existing featuresin every human being. Rising this awareness will bring us to befully ourselves, without exclusively referring to genitals as meresource of orientation and without making expectations more valuableand truer than our intrinsic nature and complex personality.

In nature, the spheres male and female are already vanishing, getting distinct. How do you define (your) gender fluidity?

My gender fluidity is a journey, a constant discovery. As a gay manout of the closet, living in Europe, I consider myself privileged andfree to explore and express myself, putting myself in question,

What are you struggling with in life? And which one was your most important one?

I am currently struggling with an injury and the consequences ofa hip microsurgery. Despite my effort in trying to have everythingunder control and putting my trust in supposedly very competentdoctors and therapists, I still feel not functional and ready todance again. I am experiencing the threat of being compelled toquit and the psychological and physical challenge of feeling brokenand in pain.

I feel deprived by the freedom of moving, which has alwaysbeen my reality. I am probably asked to find new ways to do thatand at the moment the hardest challenge is finding a balancebetween not moving at all (my instinctive reaction to pain andshame) and moving too much.

On every level, it feels like a mission and for sure a chance Iwill learn a lot from.

Can art exist without pain or is it a form of coping mechanism for you?

Art can have a cathartic and healing power, as well for the publicas for the artist. During the creative process, pain itself can be animportant trigger and source of inspiration to sublimate a chaotic,threatening and sometimes destructive state of mind into somethingconstructive and superior.

Nonetheless, I believe art can exist also without pain, butnot without a very deep and aware sensitivity.

Is art work or your work art?

Both of the answers are valid: in my experience as a dancer, arthas been work when I didn’t feel actively involved in the process,but I was asked to merely execute a sequence of steps, that feltlike an external pressure, a ready-made cloth, too tight to fit in.

Work becomes art when I am allowed to give my creativecontribution and when there is a proactive collaboration betweenthe dancers and the choreographer: the result is a balance betweenbeing challenged by a specific stylistic language and feelingencouraged to share my artistic view and movement quality.

Do you think you could stop making art?

No. Art means creating, finding new or better ways, evolving,exploring, letting curiosity and imagination come alive – in oneword: art is intrinsic in our condition of humankind.

As an artist, deeply in contact with my human essence,which is in constant mutation, the research, and the urge of makingart cannot be suspended or definitely resolved.

What do you see when you close your eyes?

When I close my eyes, I see one or more pictures that had a recentimpact on my consciousness, either good or bad, or were for somereasons relevant or impressive. By closing my eyes, I just visualisetheir echo or I try to actively remember more details.

Do you feel closer to people when making art with them?

Yes, definitely. Making art with other people, specifically dancingwith them, gives me the chance to get very close to them, experiencingphysical details that make us become very intimate: thesmell, the texture of the skin and the muscles, the rhythm of thebreath or the heartbeat, to name a few.

In some cases, bodies can elude their limitation and becomeone, both on a physical and on a meta level.

When it comes to research and create, we are also askedto open up and expose ourselves, sharing memories or personalexperiences connected to a specific topic.

This sharing process establishes a deep and visceral connection,on and off stage.

When do you feel powerful?

I feel powerful when I am able to express my art, when I can connectwith the bodies and souls of my colleagues on stage andwhen, all sweaty and exhausted, I take a bow after a performance:I am in the moment, and I feel alive. I also feel powerful when Irealise that I belong in a context or a community: it is not aboutfitting in but about having the chance to let love circulate amongpeople, who are connected through deep, strong and true bonds.

Is art necessary?

Yes, art is necessary. Very, very necessary for humanity.

Were you born an artist or merged into one? Are you an artist?

I don’t know if I was born an artist, but I feel like one: as far as Iremember, I have always had the curiosity and the sensitivity toreceive and grasp the inputs from the world around me, integratingthem in a constantly boiling creative flow, together with thegift to see or anticipate images in my head.

This is not only valid for dance, which can be considered mymain channel of expression, but it also refers to my passion forphotography, for neologisms and word games, song writing andvideo making.

Is your art like an intimate partner or is it a process you birthed?

Art is a process I give birth to: at first, it feels like a creature thatdisplays only the final result of a complex, meaningful, sweatedjourney.

Then, it starts becoming an intimate partner, with which Iresonate and communicate, and which can surprisingly reveal itsown multi-layered identity, independently from what I could foreseeduring the research. The consequence is a perpetual creation,during which the piece of art feels always renewed and different.