Sofia Montenegro

I am an uncompleted deck of cards, I’ve been many things on stage and I can’t wait to be so much more.

To live in a sea of sporadic but reoccurring motivation, joy, dedication, curiosity and love. I wish to find my own road and to be surprised along the way.

Inspiration seems to be hiding in every corner, it’s in music or in a person’s smile. For me, it’s in beautifully composed words, in ducks walking in a row close to a lake, it’s in other artist’s passion and the different colours they use to voice their opinions, it’s in sudden and urgent feelings or even in quiet evenings…it’s everywhere all the time, except when you go looking for her.

I did a bit of everything, some “taste testing” as I called it. I threw myself into the freelance market and filled my year with projects of different natures. I interned for Jelena Kostic in a fast-paced environment (3 weeks) to create material and transform a 20-minute duet into a full evening piece for 5 dancers. On the other hand I also participated in a project with young makers that required much more time and personal devotion because I had to enter not only their creative work but also their movement essence, the qualities of their walk, the softness of their limbs and the attack in their gut. But first my year started with a 3-week research and development (R&D is what they call it in the UK) for a dance theatre maker and I explored the use of text, I developed my character and worked with a lovely cast of four — me and “my family”. This project explored themes of intergenerational trauma and family dynamics, which I find extremely interesting topics. I learned all kinds of things from each experience but the top three if I had to chose would be: work environment and the people you work with will determine your experience way more than any artistic vision — this can make you rethink how you enter a space and also your choice of space to work in; there is always something to learn in every process and the illusion of a “dream project” doesn’t need to determine how you view each experience; surround yourself with people you love, do other things that exit you, explore your interest and curiosities and don’t be stuck on what “should be”, it’s much more enjoyable to “go for it” or to “see where things go” or even (and this is my favourite) “taking charge of your own path” — if you want something don’t waste your time thinking you can’t ever have it. And my last dance-related event was a short dance film that took me on a boat trip in the north of Holland: sailing through the sea, dry falling and filming in moody sand, freezing with the cold wind, working with a good friend and getting to know some great artists. Alongside my dancing and performing experiences, I also played pretend in other roles, I volunteered in the hospitality department at the NDD and the Holland dance festival, I was presented for the whole of Café theatre Utrecht as a location manager and at the Arnhem edition for one day, I also assisted the professional creations as ArtEZ with a part of the lovely DA2. And whilst all of this was going on, I was training and getting strong at the gym so that I could do a pull-up. And I can.