CARMEN ROMÁN AND SON DE LOS DIABLOS
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by Yaccaira Salvatierra
Cunamacué / photo by Jamie Lyons
invited to dance in a Peruvian dance troupe by a family-friend who was starting their own Afro-Peruvian dance company. Desperately feeling a need to connect with her Peruvian roots, she joined the company and answered that inaudible call. It is here she began partici- pating in Afro-Peruvian dances. Yo no sabía qué decir, mi boca/ no sabía/ nombrar,/ mis ojos eran ciegos,/ y algo gol- peaba en mi alma,/ fiebre o alas perdidas,/ y me fui haciendo solo,/ descifrando/ aquella quemadura,/ y escribí la primera línea vaga,/ vaga, sin cuerpo, pura/ tontería,/ pura sabi- duría/ del que no sabe nada,/ y vi de pronto/ el cielo/ desgranado/ y abierto,/ planetas,/ plantaciones palpitantes,/ la sombra perfo- rada,/ acribillada/ por flechas, fuego y flores,/ la noche arrolladora, el universo.// In the beginning of this stanza, Neruda contrasts not being able to write to having a burst of vision and knowing – he finds the sky, the universe, a change that allows him to see everything with his eyes, inner dis- covery and excitement. Carmen, in many ways embodies this, too: after having been introduced to Afro-Peruvian dance as a teen, she continued through high school and col- lege, first for a sense of belonging, but then more intentionally for the dancing itself. While in college, Carmen studied Account- ing and, after graduating, she worked as an accountant for a few years, but began to feel her inner giant asking more of her, which is when a shift in her life occurred. In 2008, she quit her job as an accountant and applied for another degree in Dance at San Francisco State University. Soon after, she went onto graduate school at Mill’s College studying Dance with an emphasis in Cho- reography. She says, however, that the con- temporary language of her choreography began from when she taught children in the Village Dancers Program at San Francisco State University. She wanted to know how she could help young students understand and feel part of Afro-Peruvian dance, so she integrated contemporary movements mak- ing it easier for young students to connect. In 2010, she applied for a Fulbright scholar- ship and, even though that year she did not become a recipient (she would apply again in 2014 and become a recipient of a scholarship
of her face. In her arms, like a warm loaf of bread, is a newborn baby quietly nursing. I sit next to her, and I am in awe of her not only because of her newborn daughter but because ever since I have known Carmen, her focus, work ethic and love emanates in almost every- thing she does, and here she is focused and in love. I have known Carmen for over 13 years, and this is the first time we talk specifically about her work and dancing: interviewer and interviewee. I have come into this interview with questions I thought I already knew the answers to, but am surprised to have learned so much. She tells me that when she was 11 years old, she emigrated from Perú to the United States to join her father in Santa Clara, California leaving her siblings and mother behind. Years later, her younger sister and brother would join them. Those first few years in the United States she felt an extreme sense of displacement which to this day comes and goes. All that was familiar to her – the lan- guage, the food, the culture (even though she was living with her Peruvian father) – abruptly changed like being thrown into an abyss of the unfamiliar and unwanted. Consequently, like in Pablo Neruda’s poem, dancing came to her unexpectantly, knocking at her door, asking of her that which she yet did not know existed: a sleeping giant housed in her body wanting to breath in this world. And, when she was 14 years old, she was
Y FUE a esa edad... Llegó la poesía/ a bus- carme. No sé, no sé de dónde/ salió, de invierno o río./ No sé cómo ni cuándo,/ no, no eran voces, no eran/ palabras, ni silen- cio,/ pero desde una calle me llamaba,/ desde las ramas de la noche,/ de pronto entre los otros,/ entre fuegos violentosos/ regresando solo,/ allí estaba sin rostro/ y me tocaba.// When I think of Carmen Román as a dancer and choreographer, I am reminded of the poem by Pablo Neruda “La poesía” where Neruda personifies poetry in search for the speaker pushing him to write verses. The speaker isn’t sure from where their inspiration comes from, if from solitude or nature, but it is clear that this inaudible calling is pres- ent and urgent. More so, it is a calling that can come at any time for those who create whether it comes at birth or one that devel- ops over time. For as long as I have known Carmen, her calling to create has been strong, steadfast, inspiring. Not too long ago, I had the honor to sit down with her and talk about being a choreographer: how she came to danc- ing, the work she is dedicated to, and working with the community and her future plans. Carmen is propped up at the head of the bed, sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her like two sturdy logs, her hair is dishev- eled into long dark waves, which most likely was brushed by her hand to the right side
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CONTENTS
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On this Page / Carmen Román and Son del los diablos by Yaccaira Salvatierra 3 / Exploring Power and
Agency in Early Childhood Dance by Aiano Nakagawa
4 / Speak: Movement Practices with Elders by Greacian Goeke and Kaethe Weingarten 6 / December Performance Calendar 9 / New View: Carma Zisman 10 / The Nawkhatt in My Mother's Living Room by Justin Ebrahemi 12 / In Conversation with Robert Dekkers by Heather Desaulniers
Cunamacué / photo by Jamie Lyons
2 in dance DEC 2018
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org I | | rs r . r
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