Núria Martin Fandos
Contemporary Dancer
"New York is the Mecca of dance. Everyone dances, everyone
choreographs, everyone creates, everyone presents. There is no fear of making
work the imagination"
The contemporary dancer Núria Martin Fandos
didn’t plan to train in New York until she found herself holding the first
prize honored with a two-year full scholarship to complete her studies at
Peridance Capezio Center in this city of the United States. After four months
of receiving the full scholarship she was already in the world capital of
dance. It is a unique experience, but at the same time, complicated and with a
point of hardness.
Why are you encouraged to dance?
My first dance class (ballet) was when I was
five years old when a friend of mine from school told me that she was going to
dance as an extracurricular activity after finishing classes.
What would you highlight of your training process as a dancer?
A dancer, like many other professions, never
finishes her training, is in continuous training during his professional
career. The formation of a dancer, and particularly mine, has dedicated effort,
in hours, in mental and physical improvement. The formation of a dancer is long
and requires many hours in a studio before viewers see the final product, that
may only be 10 minutes…
I find it quite difficult to summarize in a
word what my training has been but the two words that get closer are: personal
improvement and dedication.
Why did you decide to go to the United States?
Unlike many people (especially youth) in our
country, I had never wanted to go to the United States to finish my studies and
gent a career. We can say that somebody decided for me.
I presented my choreography ‘Veni, Vidi, Vinci’
(solo) and ‘Advertencia’ (quintet) at the Third International Competition of
Dance in the City of Barcelona (2013) to gain experience in another area of the
dance world (contests, competitions, etc…) that I had not yet discovered. The
duration of the event was two days; the first when the semifinals took place,
and the second. At the end of the first day, when they announced the results of
the finalists I did not see my name on the list.
The next day I received a call from the
directors of the contest communicating that the jury had decided to give me a
second chance and they wanted to see me dance again in the final as a soloist
and also the quintet, when it was time to collect the prize at the Salon de
Cent Barcelona City Council, I saw myself holding a statue and a diploma as
winner of the first prize of contemporary dance of the III International
Competition of Barcelona and with a full scholarship for two years to finish my
dance studies in Peridance Capezio Center in New York.
So, in about four months I was in this city two
years in front of me todo (just) three things: dance, dance and dance (as my
father often says).
How was your professional experience in this
country?
My
professional experience in America has been enriched in every way. Everything
in life is a learning experience and I have learned not only about this country
and its dance creations, but I have learned about cultures. Mexican, Japanese,
Bolivian, Canadian, Italian, Czech, South Africa and many others. The
experience that an artist can get in a city like this is immense. It makes you
change your perspective on life and realize that not only your way is right. In
relation to dance, I have learned to distinguish my tastes. New York is the
Mecca of the dance and there’s so much, but so much variety that everything is
valid. It can be valid as an expression of art, but does not mean that as
artists we accept everything in our vocabulary. I have learned to see,
discover, accept and, most importantly, I learned to criticize constructively.
This is how the city has molded me through my professional experience.
Does the Contemporary Dance is a particularly
complicated to make it professional activity artistic expressions? Are there
other expressions of dance with which is easier to make a living?
Contemporary
is new.
Dance in
general has always been a difficult profession to make a living with. For this
reason, when people use to ‘stop being on the stage’ they use to dedicate their
time and profession to teach. Right now, in the twenty-first century and
especially here in New York, the situation is this: There are not only large
companies renowned and established for years (New York City Ballet, Parsons
Dance and Ballet Hispanico) where their dancers have a month salary, a weekly
hour schedule and medical insurance (like any other job) but there is also what
is called ‘Projects’, which is when all other dancers who are not working with
an established renowned company (because they no longer have contracts or for
any other reasons) are part of project-based companies, ie, usually dancers
only get paid of performances (and not rehearsal hours) but if you are lucky
and the company has applied and received a grant may have a rehearsal
remunerations but this will never equal an established company dancer’s salary.
All these other dancers must be maintained through another job that pay the
bills.
So it’s a
bittersweet situation, as there is much dancing, so that almost everyone can
get to be on stage, but a lot of dancers choose to have another job to give you
money to live.
Is it very different the professional
environment and the learning experience in New York that in Barcelona?
Yes. It is
very different in many aspects starting from the teaching method until the
professional environment. In this country everything happens so fast that any
professional environment has been attached to this city rhythm as well. Even the
dance classes the teacher begins with a short warm-up because the focus and
main point of the class is to get to the choreography, to the final result,
what is shown in front of the audience… And the same happened in the
professional environment. When a company announces its lined-up performances to
its dancers, the most common thing is to rehearse only two weeks before the
performance. A difference from Barcelona, that rehearsals may happen long time
before the performance date.
Are there many Catalans dancers who have also tried
fortune In America?
There are
some. Now I know four Catalan dancers, and five Spaniards. But I’m sure there
have been others before my generation.
Is there a greater sensitivity to this type of dance in New York in
Barcelona, in the United States in Catalonia or Spain?
I would not speak of sensitivity, but New York
is the Mecca of dance. Everyone dances, everyone choreographs, everyone
creates, everyone presents. There is no fear of making fly the imagination.
Everything is accepted and everything is valid and this is how new trends
emerge. I feel we are very choosy in Spain with the ' what people say ' and the
opinion of others and thus never gives space for new jobs and new people...
How US welcomes professionals like you? Are they more demanding than
with the natives?
America is a rich country in every way, where
you have to work hard to achieve your goal. All non US residents have to get a
visa, marriage or winning the Green Card to stay in the United States.
Once a
non US resident professional dancer has won the artist visa (visa 0-1) receives
the same level of demand as a native by the Government.
However, the process by which we must pass all
the people we want to get the 0-1 Visa, is not easy. You have to prove you're a
professional dancer (in my case) with extraordinary abilities. This requires
the presentation of evidence of employment (contracts, payments, press
materials, media materials, pictures, videos, correspondence, biographies of
other artists involved in the project, schedule rehearsals and performances
...), education, show that you are a member of associations, organizations and
unions in your area, fifteen letters of recommendation and awards that you have
earned throughout your life. Once all this work is done, it passes through the
hands of a lawyer and finally sent to the immigration department to get a (positive
or negative) response about three to six months later.
Is the stage in the US is only circumstantial, for a few years or gone
to stay?
I originally came for two years. When I
graduated (2015), I decided to apply for a visa OPT (Optional Training Program)
that the schools offer when you finish your studies, that allows you to legally
work in the US in the field of your studies, and is the previous step for any
international student who wants to apply for a visa as an artist. At the moment
I do not want to stay forever, I just want to have the best possible experience
in the dance world here, and when I think that I have achieved what US can give
me I want to move to Barcelona.
How do you see your professional future?
I see a busy professional future, following the path that I have already started. I do not expect less but quite the opposite. This is just the beginning. It wiil be a busy career, and every day fighting for more, beating me and learning from the experiences that the career path can give me.
What is your greatest aspiration as a dancer Contemporary Dance?
My aspiration is to work as dancer in one or more established renowned dance companies until I reach my goal, and then I would like to choreograph for other companies or create my own dance company in Catalonia.
Currículum Núria Martín Fandos
