What is the best thing that I love about my work?

The power of creation. Creativity can transform things. Dance is movement, movement is transformation, transformation generates creation.

Dance is wat I do, it´s what I´m. To me it´s more than a job. it´s a way of looking at and understanding life .

What is my idea of perfect happiness?

I don´t see those two words together. Happiness is never perfect to me. It is a search, not a goal. I need to mess up happiness to find real life To be happy is to appreciate everything I have without looking the other way from things I don’t like

Maybe Hapiness is overrated nowadays.

What is my greatest fear?

To live with fear

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?

When I have to write some important project, I let it be flying around my head too long, I postpone it. But once I start I go straight to the end.

Which living persons in my profession do i most admire?

I would say Pina Bausch, she transformed the language of modern dance, and her work remains modern over time.

Who really inspires me is every person I connect with who is able to take me to create a new project.

What is my greatest extravagance?

I can’t stand asymmetry in clothes and haircuts although I don’t like faces that are too symmetrical

On what occasion would I lie?

I guess everytime we post something in a social networks we all lie a little bit… right? Trying to show all the time the best of ourselves?

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?

Not being able to put all my time and energy in the creative process. Artists have no choice but be producers and managers as well, which is not bad, but it takes much of our time.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work?

Everytime I´m on stage. I feel I´m in the right place, all the worries go away, and my focus is sharp.

If I could, what would I change about myself?

I can be quite intense, pressing on certain points that I don’t like about other people, I have to learn to be more relaxed in those situations.

What is my greatest achievement in work?

When I truely get at people´s hart through my own creations . That is, by making people think after seeing my performances or when people can make some changes in their life habits after attending one of my workshops.

I´m very proud as well, of having been able to meet in person and learn from choreographers like Pina Bausch or Martha Graham, some legends in the dance world, and work with directors like Peter Greenaway.

Where would I most like to live?

I like very much Amsterdam, where I used to live and Barcelona, where I am currently living.

I like the cultural atmosphere in both of them. They are very inspiring to me. I need them both to keep my personal and work balance.

I’m a little nomad anyway, I would like to spend sometime in New York and Tokyo as well.

What is my most treasured possession?

It could sound like topic, but my most treasured posssession it´s something I don´t own, my familiy and friends.

What is my most marked characteristic?

I believe I am capable of reading people in the first instant and I am usually not wrong..

I am clear and direct.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city?

There are a few, like Café Bookshop La Central en Barcelona, with an interior garden, where you can find calm within the hustle of the city, Ideal for working with your computer.

And the Stedelijk Museum. It has always inspired me since my student years in Amsterdam, there is something in the building that attracts me.

What is my favourite place to eat and drink, in my city?

I like Flax&Kale, a good combination of healthy food, pleasant atmosphere and good interior design. I love being able to enjoy a meal on the terrace, surrounded by plants.

For coffee, Sala Beckett, in Poblenou, a neighborhood in continuous transformation, full of warehouses and galleries

What books influenced my life and how?

“The Library” by Penelope Fitzgerald a simple story, about an ordinary woman chasing a big dream. It talks about the motivation that pushes us to continue, as important as the goal to achieve

“Kafka on the Shore” by Murakami, puur metaphysics , sometimes we cannot understand the most basic activities of daily life, but we have always the choice of making a fresh start

“Le Petit Prince” I read this book as a child and it opened a door to my imagination in a way I had not known before. Sensitivity and delicacy.

Who are my favorite writers?

Banana Yoshimoto, Zadie Smith, Dorothy Parker, Wallace Stegner, among others

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day?

I rather tell you the list of songs I like to enjoy any day of may life;

PJ Harvey, JunMiyake, Mink de Ville, Jens Lekman,,

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?

Pippi Langstrump, when I grow up I want to be like her. Freedom and enjoy life.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?

People with unknown names who manage to be consistent with their ideas and principles, putting the dignity of people above anything else.

Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime?

There are several, I´m a fan of film director Hirokazu Koreeda, I liked very much his last film “Shoplifters”, I admire his ability to discover poetry in everyday´s life events.

“Wild Tales/Relatos Salvajes” directed by Damián Szifron, a journey through the human landscape, with humor and crudeness at the same time.

And of course, a classic, The Philadelphia Story, glamour and good feeling.

What role plays art in my life and work?

Art is essential to understand life. I understand art as the search for beauty in everything that surrounds us, a beauty not only aesthetic, but understood as expression, emotion and interrogation.

Art teaches us new languages, offers us other perspectives, other meanings. Languages allow us to decipher reality, art helps us to be able to understand the world, to interpret and love it.

Art throws questions

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime?

My partner Koos Vos, with whom I´ve shared many projects, and my daughter, my greatest inspiration

Whom would I like to work with in 2019/2020?

I love working with people who challenge me. I believe that any creative process happens in collaboration with people who contrast with my personal-creative vision, and then come together at a meeting and exchange point.

I would like to work with dancer Jun Morii and painter Gabriel Schmitz, in a project that merges movement and painting. I’m already working on the concept and looking for financing to do it.

Which people in my profession would i love to meet in 2019/2020?

I would love to meet again With Minoru Harata, and make a choreography for his Company Little Wisdom

I would love to meet Camille Decourtye and Blai Mateu Trias, and work with his Company Baró d´Evel.

What project, in 2019/2020, am I looking forward to work on?

I´m looking forwards teaching at the new Choreographical center La Faktoria, with students coming from many different countries.

I would like to come back this year to Japan, to teach and perform,

Where can you see me or my work in 2019/2020?

I´ll be touring my last production and teaching workshops. You can follow it at my website http://www.helenalizari.com

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?

Keep going, keep believing in yourself, keep moving, keep dancing

Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story?

Rebeca Bouvier, translater and graphic designer

Lara de Moor, painter

Marianne Slotboom, managment consultant, coach and founder of Yellow

How can you contact me?

Through

website http://www.helenalizari.com

email info@helenalizari.com