Representation, Identity, Diaspora, Through the Lens of Mimulus Dance Company

In this episode, professor and choreographer Silvana Cardell contextualizes the work of the Mimulus Dance Company through the lens of adjacent histories and influences: Cardell from Argentina and Mimulus from Brazil.

Watch a clip of Por Um Fio:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/mimulus-dance-company/por-um-fio/

Insights and influences, Silvana Cardell:
In Buenos Aires, Cardell learned under the mentorship of Chilean choreographer Ana Itelman and grew up attending  Oscar Araiz’s performances. From them, she understood what it took to become an artist. Their work was influenced by German expressionism's emotional depth and American dance's physicality. Iteman and Araiz were former students of German soloist dancer Dore Hoyer and American choreographer Miriam Winslow, who was strongly connected to Jacob Pillow, first as a Denishwan student in 1932 and later returning in the 1940s to perform her own work. These influences, along with a strong foundation in contemporary dance forms, ballet training, and traditional Argentinean dance forms, determined the quality of Cardell's early work, which connects to the Mimulus Dance Company’s style. Pursuing artistic growth, influenced by teacher Ana, who had been faculty at Bard College, Cardell moved between Buenos Aires and the U.S. throughout the late 1980s, first as a student at The University of the Arts,  finally settling in the U.S. in 2004 after graduating with an MFA at Temple University.  Her educational journey in Philadelphia led to work with key figures in the dance community, such as Manfred Fishbeck and Merian Soto, mentors and collaborators who fostered a creative dialogue that extends into her creative work, today.