Anonimas (Mexico)
Anonimas (Mexico)
AMARANTA OSORIO CEPEDA
I started doing theatre when I was a child because my father was a theater director and my mother an actress. At first I studied acting then playwriting and ultimately cultural management. Today I combine all three. I started working with Julia Varley in 2008 because I invited her to some of the festivals that I directed in Mexico, Costa Rica and Spain. In 2012 I started working with her as an actress, and she became my director.
Odin Teatret were presenting Andersen´s Dream in Madrid and we went to have lunch. I told her I was going through a very strong personal crisis and confessed that I felt lost. In the middle of the meal I said, “Someday I’d like to do something with you” – to which she replied : “Find a space and we will begin tomorrow at 9 am”. That was Anonima’s first step.
I do not know who gave me my first impulse, but at the moment, my necessity is not rational; it comes from my heart or perhaps somewhere further… I have a deep need to tell a story. I have several teachers, but now, as an actress, my master is Julia Varley. From her I learned that, in terms of acting, the impossible can be made possible if one is willing to devote the necessary hours of work and if you go step by step.
TERESA GARCIA HERRANZ
I started working with Amaranta and Julia as a musician, helping to create the different atmospheres in the scenes. I used to just sit in a corner, but one day I asked Julia if I could try to hold the guitar in such a way that I could walk around Amaranta while playing. I didn’t know at that moment what I was setting myself up for! Julia found a string she could really pull there, and I ended walking on stones, moving all around the stage, dancing, singing and speaking while playing!! I never imagined when I started working with these two amazing women that I could manage to do everything I do nowadays in the play. It has been a beautiful and very enlightening journey, making me grow greatly both as a person and as an artist.
Julia Varley taught me everything I know about acting and the use of my body and voice. She made me understand how important honesty is in terms of what you do on stage, as well as discipline. And she introduced me to an amazing world where everything is possible, if you are just willing to try it. I have since taken workshops with other artists, and I have trained regularly with Raul Iaiza in Madrid, who was also linked with the Odin earlier in his life. But definitely Julia is the person I feel is my master, she is the person from whom I have learned the most, and not only about the beautiful world of theatre, but also about being a human being.
Music is a universal language, and is a great vehicle for engaging people on an emotional level. Theatre, on the other hand, opens up the option of telling more specific stories, creating characters, worlds and images. When combining the two, I find there is a possibility to reach people on a deeper level by fusing these different means of communication. And I love the idea of helping people to reflect on things and travel further with their imagination by combining the two. Plus personally it keeps enriching me, as it feels like a constant challenge to go beyond.