Artistic research: New pathways to new knowledge? A conversation with Sofia Ornellas Pinto
It’s no secret that artistic research takes place at the Academy of Theatre and Dance (ATD), but what does it actually entail? In this interview, part 24 in a series, we take a peek behind the scenes, in conversation with Sofia Ornellas Pinto, head of the ATD’s Health and Performance department, which also became a research group in ATD Lectorate in 2022.
Part 24: Recharging through ballet and kung fu
Sofia Ornellas Pinto: It’s so important that dancers and theatre practitioners take care of their bodies and minds. That way they learn how best to work with themselves in their own artistic practice. We ran the first ReCharge Week last February, as part of the preparatory training programme at the Dutch National Ballet Academy (NBA). We worked with around a hundred young students, aged 9 to 17. What you need to bear in mind is that ballet is an early-specialization activity, which means you usually start very early in life. The training programme is demanding and repetitive, and it usually starts when you’re age nine – I actually started myself when I was three.
Young ballet dancers can benefit from doing other sports in parallel to develop diverse aspects of their physicality before devoting themselves solely to ballet through mid-adolescence. It’s an unfortunate fact that specialising at an early age can bring challenges such as repetitive strain injuries and decreased resilience and coping ability. In some cases, early specialization is connected to burn-out and loss of passion during ballet training.
Did the ReCharge Week completely overturn the regular programme for the young students?
Absolutely. We wanted to give the students an opportunity to move in different ways and engage with their artistic side. During ReCharge there were dramaturgy, kung fu, yoga, games and movement repatterning sessions, as well as mindfulness where we went on an audio walk together. I assembled a team of teachers for the week from various dance and theatre study programmes at the ATD. Being able to draw on such an abundance of talent was amazing, and it led to a really meaningful exchange. We also had a guest, a NBA alumnus and former international principal dancer, who opened a restaurant during a career hiatus. He is now back dancing and choreographing but he talked with the students about the importance of being a person, not only a dancer exploring questions like: What are your other dreams? What things would make you complete as a human being?
How was the programme received overall?
The students were incredibly enthusiastic about it, and so were the guest teachers and the school administration. Right now I’m still analysing all the feedback. In this research what we are looking for first is which components of the ReCharge programme gave the students the most energy; which ones were the most regenerative. It would be great if those parts – like dramaturgy and martial arts for example – could eventually be incorporated in the curriculum. In any case, it seems we will be able to repeat ReCharge Week next year and that is already a great outcome.
ReCharge Week NBA, photo: Sjoerd Derine
ReCharge Week NBA, photo: Sjoerd Derine
ReCharge Week NBA, photo: Maud Smeets
ReCharge Week NBA, photo: Sjoerd Derine
Could you tell me a little about your own background in ballet?
I was a ballet dancer, and I ‘retired’ around 23/24, which is not that uncommon. Fortunately, by that time I’d completed my physiotherapy training. As a professional physiotherapist I wanted to specialise in working with dancers. I was in Portugal, and because there were no opportunities there in this field I moved to London, where I got a masters in Dance Science, a niche area of Sports Science. I kept on seeing similar problems in the dancers – the same problems I’d had myself when I was dancing. I could have just kept on treating each one individually, but for me it seemed like a more exciting challenge to address the root cause through preventative approaches and education. While I was in London, I also did research and organised workshops and seminars. I was clinical director of ballet youth companies in Scotland and France and then, in 2022, I was appointed as head of the Health and Performance department here at the ATD. There was a transitional period of about 8 months but in 23-24 I was able to start seeing my own ideas in practice.
Are there particular moments when you feel you’re doing exactly the kind of work you set out to do?
On a micro level I get that in my one-on-one contacts with the students – it’s wonderful when something clicks between you. I also get a lot of fulfilment from the seminars and workshops. But I think what gives me most satisfaction is having an effect on embedded ways of working. I do a lot of work connecting scientific and artistic departments, sometimes collaborating with the other AHK academies and I get intense satisfaction from connecting with the right people and having the right conversations. When I step outside after those conversations I feel elated.
How can you tell when you’re having the right kind of conversation?
You see people’s enthusiasm, the sparkle in their eyes. People often get discouraged by plans that seem too big, but the way I see it you just need to start with something. Something that you can achieve and something that has meaning for the population. You can start with something small, as long as you fully commit to it. Does that mean we’ll have everything sorted out by tomorrow? No, but maybe we will in five years’ time.
It’s probably worth mentioning here that before I started at the ATD I worked full time at youth ballet companies. The number of students and teachers I’m engaging with here at the ATD is 13 times more than in a dance company. It means I can’t do all that much for each individual study programme – ultimately each project I get started will need to sustain itself. What’s important for me is that my work starts a ripple effect.
The ReCharge Week programme was also a research project as part of the Lectorate’s wider research into regeneration, and I’m looking to present it at the IADMS conference (International Association of Dance, Medicine and Science). I believe it’s important that we, the ATD, share our knowledge and make our presence felt internationally. It’s an opportunity to start a conversation and get reactions from other professionals in the field. Perhaps there’ll be someone there with something amazing to add to our research. That’s another thing that makes me happy: having that ripple effect.
Text and interview: Hester van Hasselt
The complete series of interviews Artistic research: New pathways to new knowledge? you can read here