[This is an excerpt transcribed from the interview to Elisa Sbaragli and Sara Sguotti: you can find the video interview here]
Giovanni: Where do you write? in the rehearsal room, in the bedroom, in the kitchen? In what kind of practical spatial situations?
Sara: There are so many elements connected to the practice of dance which do not only include the rehearsal room, but which also concern precisely how everything is conceived in dance. I am speaking here both of artistic activities as well as of organisational ones, because even in this kind of work a lot of practice has taken place. I write such notes everywhere, in fact lately I have even started recording voice messages. Sometimes I’m in the car and send a voice message to someone to remember one particular thing. In any case, I write everywhere. Surely, thanks to the tools which are now at our fingertips, there are many more chances to get lost in the practice of writing and thus to indulge the need to stop in one place and jot something down. But at this time, especially during these days, during this residency, I realise how important it is also to have a space dedicated to writing. A time and a place that allows you to truly free up even some processes that maybe you usually don’t have the time for because there are a thousand other needs linked to the ebb and flow of the rhythm of your daily life.
Elisa: I tend to write before, during and after being in the rehearsal room. I always need to take time for myself, at home, or the place that I am staying at. Here I take the time to have genuine periods of study, in which I focus on the work, even transcribing some texts. I tend to always write everything down in the form of paper notes. At home I have a series of folders organised by show, where I keep all of the notes and all the materials, including books and texts. Otherwise, I’ve been using notes lately as well as reminders on my phone, which I use when maybe I’m in a hurry. I also created a WhatsApp group with myself as the only member where I send notes and voice notes. Of course, I also write in the rehearsal room. This obviously depends on the nature of the work: if I work with other people, for example, and I take care of choreography, it’s easier for me to write, than when I am myself dancing. I write a lot, even while I am observing. I take notes of what has happened. The so-called director’s notes. I even write after I have left the rehearsal room. Often, even a while after I have left. I leave it to stew for a bit.