Video by Garrett Parker

Por Debajo de la Rodilla

Por Debajo de la Rodilla

Por Debajo de la Rodilla is the second iteration of an ongoing choreographic exploration that began with Someone is Rocking You from Above. This solo was one of the first steps of Mar's diving deeper into how fervor is experienced in the body. Rooted in her Catholic upbringing—marked by guilt-driven devotion and the silent observation of others in prayer—this work draws from embodied memories of fear, reverence, and longing.

It is also a dialogue with the child she once was: a girl shaped by ritual and restraint, watching others plead for salvation and learning, in silence, how to do the same. The gestures in the piece emerge from that atmosphere—trembling, kneeling, folding inward—as echoes of a faith both inherited and questioned.

The solo is performed circularly, with the audience surrounding the performer. This spatial choice invites intimacy while evoking a quiet form of surveillance. At a specific moment, the dancer takes a single step forward—breaking the boundary of the circle in a subtle yet powerful gesture of rupture and emergence.

Through repetition and stillness, the body becomes both vessel and resistance—invoking ancestral memory without reenacting it. Rather than aiming for narrative resolution, the solo opens space for tension, vulnerability, and unresolved inner conflict.

The piece later informed the development of Doves Don’t Fly at Night, expanding this deeply personal investigation into a collective experience.

Choreography and Performance: Mar Talavera-Tejeda

Presented at: EstroGenius Festival, La MaMa Experimental Theatre (2024), Arts On Site (2024), La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival (2025)

Music: “El Divisadero” – Chris Watson “Cuerpo Celeste” – Murcof “Untitled Track” – Vladislav Delay “1382 Wycliff Gen. II. 7 and Spiride in to the Face of Hym an Entre of Breth of Lijf” – Akira Rabelais “Dimension” – Hélène Vogelsinger