Discover Dance, Digging Deeper: Irma Villafuerte

Company Member, Rachana Joshi has written about her experience of the August 2022 edition of Discover Dance, with special guest Irma Villafuerte.

Rachana’s experience

Irma inspires imagination through her energy, stories and movement. She shared her background in folkloric dance and shared cultural stories from her childhood in El Salvador while speaking with Dainty. She specifically shared a story of a mythological creature, La Siguanaba, a woman by the river who lured in men at sea by making sounds to eventually eat them. This “wild” woman would often have her face covered. Irma connects this story to the ancestral practices of the indigenous people of EL Salvador and the sacred energy that women like her ancestors shared. Whenever there was a need to protect their energy, women would cover their faces with their hair or a veil as to maintain their own peace. Immediately, the story made me think of sirens from Greek Mythology. The story again is similar, women luring men towards the rocky shores at sea with their beautiful voices so that their ships crash. It’s fascinating to think of how these stories came about as a direct reflection of the opinions, context and culture of the societies they were birthed from.  

Irma then goes on to share a section of movement she had been researching. Her face and hands were covered with wooden bowl like structures, which she used as a base to hold up the rest of her body. She embodied a wild and mysterious, yet graceful and feminine creature. She removes the covering on her face to reveal long, blue, water-like hair covering her face. She then dances and uses the bowls as if they were bearing water. She evoked a clear connection to water and its life-giving force. I was reminded of my own practice where we tell stories of women in the river not only doing household chores and labour, but also socializing with other women, sharing stories and experiences. Irma’s interpretation and personification of La Siguanaba was clearly and beautifully rooted in her cultural and lived experiences.  

“Irma inspires imagination through her energy, stories and movement. ”

“Irma’s exploration of inviting the audience’s presence into her performance was a particularly moving Discover Dance moment.  Those who were comfortable sat onstage as she navigated the space and being in such close proximity to Irma’s powerful presence was an exhilarating experience.” 

Nova Bhattacharya 

“I was really excited to be given pieces of paper and writing tools for Irma’s presentation.  We were invited to draw or write as we watched her perform.  This put me in a different state of mind while watching, it allowed me to clock my thoughts, feelings, emotions and viewpoints and also gave me creative freedom, making me feel involved in her creative process. Just knowing that she would be reading and taking our papers with her, made us all feel incredibly special and connected to her work.” 

Neena Jayarajan