Private Project

First Breath

The animal, the unfamiliar body, the breath that gives me life, the hidden face. From where does the authentic "I" emerge? What are the demands and emotional dependencies that arise with the creation of a being?
This piece is a break with the connotations of flamenco that beat inside one’s body and, and at the same time, the
reconstruction of a heart.
How is it possible to locate your authentic self when you have to be the perfect daughter or the good ‘flamenca’? The piece is based on a personal investigation into my own relationship with my mother and, at the same time, my relationship with flamenco. The flamenco dress represents the emotional dependencies that exist in these relationships and the desire to free oneself from them. At the same time, the dress represents for me the demands of tradition and how it influences the construction of my identity as an artist/dancer.
As I created the piece, I felt how the dress took me back to the moment of birth, and all that is involved in the creation of a being. The dress transforms me into an animal, into an unfamiliar body, the breath makes me feel alive, the face that is
not revealed.
I needed to break with all the connotations of flamenco and the human being in order to rebuild this being that even at the end of the piece still makes me ask: who is she?

  • Iris Deker
    Director
  • Iris Dekker
    Choreography/Dance
  • Adam Newby
    Camera
  • Adam Newby
    Sound
  • José Tomé
    Sound
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Primer Aliento
  • Project Type:
    Other
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 52 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 7, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Spain
  • Country of Filming:
    Spain
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Iris Deker

Iris Dekker (1987, The Netherlands) finished her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Amsterdam in 2010 with a degree in Theatre Studies. During her studies she focussed more on dance, participating in exchanges offered by the School of New Dance Development (SNDO) at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Iris also spent 8 months in Oslo, studying a minor at master level on playwright Henrik Ibsen. After finishing her university degree Iris worked for 4 years as a TV editor for Dutch television production company TV Holland, creating television shows for Dutch television. In 2014 Iris left Holland behind and moved to Seville, Spain to study dance full time at the flamenco academy Fundación Cristina Heeren. She studied here under the daily guidance of great maestros for 3 years, for which the last year she received a scholarship. Iris continues to dance flamenco and regularly performs and teaches. She has an educational flamenco project called Microflamenco that she performs at international universities and schools in Seville. In recent years Iris has moved more towards the contemporary side of flamenco and dance in general, studying with, for example, Natalia Jiménez and Juan Carlos Lérida. She has been going back into theatre studies following dramaturgy courses with Alberto Cortés. These developments and her experience in television making have led her to create her first dance video First Breath.

Add Director Biography