Arts On Site, New York, NY.
September 12, 2026.
Olha pra mim (Look at Me), is being presented via Arts On Site (AOS) in the East Village of NYC, with one remaining show on October 1. The work explores mutual support and the desire to be seen. Choreographed by Brazilian artist Adia Anselmi, the work utilizes a metal geodesic dome, in which the dancers form the basis of the questions asked in a lecture by Brazilian psychiatrist Ângelo Gaiarsa on fundamental human needs. It is a duet, danced by Anselmi and AOS Founder Chelsea Ainsworth.
When I first saw the simple dome onstage, I wasn’t sure if it was intended as a home, or a cage. As the dance progressed, it became clear that while it provided restriction, the apparatus was indeed a home…although a home held together by tension (literally, the dome uses tension rods as its structural foundation). In a sense, the work asks questions of both wanting to be seen, and how the tension and vulnerability that comes with that desire plays out between humans. From the start, the dichotomy was visually clear with the stark, straight metal of the dome and the loose, flowy movement and clothing of the dancers sharing the physical and emotional weight of fluidity and restriction.
The dancers moved independently of each other at times, but also in a unison that ebbed and flowed throughout, as the work unfolded. Punctuated by moments of stillness, we’re asked to consider, along with the dancers, what it means to be without “showing.” The discomfort of wanting to be seen completely grows harder with age, and here the audience sees the value that eye contact has to that pursuit. The extended gaze, past the point of familiarity, compels us to find the deeper view of a person, and of art.
Introducing props to a dance performance like this runs the risk of having them be too much of the focus, or relying on them too heavily. In this case, while the dome filled almost all of the space, it maintained its function as something which allows the choreography to prevail and the intention of tone to shine. At only 30 minutes long, Olha pra mim made me want to look longer, and see deeper.
By Emily Sarkissian of Dance Informa.
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