DITA LURINA (Latvia)

My name is Dita Lūriņa. I come from Latvia and that is also where my world to the theatre opened up as I graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture. I’ve been working at the Latvian National Theatre for about 100 years – 24 to be precise. I’ve played 1000 roles both on my own stage and in various projects outside the theatre. To be honest, more than 70 roles. From Maria in West Side Story to Nastasja Fillipovna in The Idiot. From Marianne in Tartif to a light flirtation with opera, playing Violetta in La Traviata. Now I’m also a stage director. The most significant works: Z.Liepiņš, K.Dimiters “Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris”, Fr. Schiller “Ferdinand and Louise”, K. Rolšteins “#DiToo”, A. Chekhov “The Cherry Orchard”, A. Baricco “Tango without Blood”.

My ideal theatre has always combined acting, stage movement and dance, music, even the circus. I believe that a role can be played through the body. Conditions can be created in which the age and gender of the performers are not crucial because their soul and spirit is what matters. Therefore, I’m on my way to get closer to the goal of combining all the elements – music, movement, aerial dance, acting and technical inventions. So that they become one voice in which a story can be told. In my eyes story-telling is a magical act.

I come from the world of classical theatre yet one day I set foot in the field of underground culture and performance. It was exciting when the world next door became a part of the performance and even a partner on the stage. Quite different from the theatre that is in the black box I must say. I truly enjoyed the experience. It took a lot of courage from me, however now I can’t stop and I can’t put myself back in the box anymore 😉

Being part of CPPM makes me so happy. To share my passion for physical theatre and my love for theatre forms and languages that crosses and extends the boundaries of traditional theatre.

Acting and directing may seem to be very close but I think they are the extreme opposites of theatre art, which in fact require radically different skills. A performance artist has the exclusive ability to join these extreme points. I see it as an opportunity to become an author in the fullest sense of the word. For me it’s a chance to go further. To go deeper and go higher, not by choosing between 2 professions but by combining them!