MARTOR no. 30 / year 2025

On Being Available. Conversation with Silvia Călin
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.57225/Martor.2025.09

AUTHORS:
Laura Jiga Iliescu
Constantin Brăiloiu Institute of Ethnography and Folklore of the Romanian Academy, Romania
ORCID: 0000-0001-6688-6543

Silvia Călin
Coreographer, Bucharest, Romania

PAGES: 163-173

KEYWORDS: Dancing experience; body and mind; tradition and the modern art of dance; supernatural encounter narratives.

ABSTRACT:
This interview focuses on the act of dancing as a corporeal experience that connects body and mind as part of an indestructible unit deployed in specific spatial and temporal arenas. In this respect, traditional folk dances and dancers share with modern performers and dance performances a corpus of sensorial and cognitive tools for bodily exploration. The dialogue is between Silvia Călin, a contemporary dancer and choreographer, and Laura Jiga Iliescu, an ethnologist. The issues explored during the interview are concerned with self-perception and connection with other dancers performing in the same arena; fixed structures, creativity and improvisation; movements, exertion, breathing and altered states of consciousness (with comments on ecstatic ritual dances); objectification towards one’s own body; and related topics.

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE:
Jiga Iliescu, Laura, Silvia Călin. 2025. “On Being Available. Conversations with Silvia Călin.” Martor 30, 163-173. [DOI: 10.57225/Martor.2025.09]

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