AUTRE
Of the short pieces that compose Olga de Soto's project anarborescences, autre can be danced differently at each performance, either by two men or two women, or, yet again, by a woman and a man. In the first case, one might wonder if the two men replace the two women. Yet, mostly, they deal with an intermediate terrain where the question of gender undergoes a metamorphosis or is toned down. Olga de Soto speaks of a 'convergence' of languages and their multiple densities: the music of Assonance IV, by Michael Jarrell, gives us by its mere title an indication of these relations where the alloy could address us about, perhaps, sexual hybridisation. Yet, it also tells us of the convergence of the bodies, in a new, reticulate relationship.
… Whether in the duet Other or the quartet ... rhizomes..., the dance seems to penetrate the musical matter in order to incarnate it. The sound takes on body, writing in the space with gestures both firm and supple, often suspended as if in a fixed image. Even when immobile, the dancers are seized in a global movement which causes the musical composition to shine. With silence as a support to bring forth the necessity of the music, Olga de Soto orchestrates an elliptical conversation between the performers which retains it's sensuality within a rigorous attitude.
Rosita Boisseau, Iles de danses, Un Festival d'atypiques, Le Monde (FR), Dec 3, 1999