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Mexican director Itzhel Razo on ritual theatre, the sacred stage, Balinese influence,

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Itzhel Razo works where personal wounds become universal ones. She makes theatre out of taboo, dragging social monsters and cultural demons into the light, treating the stage as a place of purga and unconcealment, of ritual and healing. Her travels and studies across Asia reshaped how she sees performance. Bali in particular marked her, its ceremonies, its dance, its profound connection to energy, teaching her how sacred the stage can be and how powerful transmutation is. As a woman director, she fought hard to find space for the physical, ritual, and autobiographical theatre she believed in, from institutional recognition at home to the international stage. She gives herself twenty minutes a day to let inspiration find her working.
She wants her art to make people feel alive, to stir conflict and dialogue, to speak to the young and the old at once, in this edition of PROFILES.
Me inspira partir de heridas personales que se puedan volver universales, tocar temas tabúes que puedan ayudar a traer a la luz monstruos sociales, demonios culturales, sanar heridas a través de la ritualidad. Mis viajes y estudios por Asia han marcado mi manera de concebir la escena, me gusta el término purga y desocultamiento creo que el teatro es capaz de hacer eso.
I’m inspired by starting from personal wounds that can become universal, touching on taboo subjects that can help bring social monsters and cultural demons to light, healing wounds through ritual. My travels and studies across Asia have shaped the way I conceive the stage. I like the term purge and unconcealment; I believe theatre is capable of doing that.
El trabajo del cineasta Teo Angelopolous marcó mi vida, la arquitectura del silencio.
The work of the filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos marked my life, the architecture of silence.
La inspiración tiene que encontrarte trabajando así que todos los días me doy 20 minutos de inspiración , escribo en mi libreta ideas o reflexiones que eventualmente se pondrán a trabajar en alguna obra.
Inspiration has to find you working, so every day I give myself twenty minutes of inspiration. I write ideas or reflections in my notebook that will eventually be put to work in some piece.
Como mujer directora encontrar espacios para mostrar mi arte, me costó mucho trabajo llegar a lo institucional, y al reconocimiento internacional, el tipo de teatro al que yo aspiraba: que buscaba lo físico más lo ritual y lo autobiográfico o biodramático , encontrar espacio para ello fue difícil.
As a woman director, finding spaces to show my art. It took me a great deal of work to reach the institutional level, and international recognition, for the kind of theatre I aspired to: one that sought the physical plus the ritual and the autobiographical or biodramatic. Finding space for that was difficult.
Me inspira mucho la isla de Bali, sus ceremonias, tradiciones religión, su danza, me impresiona la conexión que tienen con la energía y como eso puede moldear por completo sus creaciones artísticas. He aprendido mucho de indonesia y lo llevo a todos mis proyectos de alguna manera me enseñaron lo sagrado que es la escena y lo poderoso de la transmutación.
The island of Bali inspires me deeply, its ceremonies, traditions, religion, its dance. I’m struck by the connection they have with energy and how that can completely shape their artistic creations. I’ve learned so much from Indonesia and I carry it into all my projects. In some way they taught me how sacred the stage is and how powerful transmutation is.
La voz de las mujeres artistas me inspira que cada vez encontramos más espacio para poder crear tanto en cine teatro o danza, el arte femenino me apasiona.
The voice of women artists inspires me. It excites me that we’re finding more and more space to create, in film, theatre, and dance. Female art is my passion.
Se fiel a ti misme. Y cuanto estés en el valle recuerda la montaña. Está carrera es un sube y baja constante.
Be true to yourself. And when you’re in the valley, remember the mountain. This career is a constant up and down.
Me gusta que lo que hago les haga sentir vivos, crear sensaciones profundas. Quiero inspirar generar conflicto en el otre, y un diálogo quiero que mi arte siempre dialogue con generaciones jóvenes y viejas.
I like that what I do makes people feel alive, that it creates deep sensations. I want to inspire, to generate conflict in the other, and a dialogue. I want my art to always dialogue with generations young and old.
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