“I have no doubt that I came to this world for dancing. Even though I started late, and even though I am at the end of my career.”
It is hard not to feel pulled in by Daniel Reca’s passion.
Despite the fact we are chatting over a 6,000 mile distance with the dancer in sunny Brazil, which I try not to compare to Aberdeen’s current frostiness, his love for his life’s work feels almost tangible.
And yet, his tour with Anthem from the Sao Paulo Dance Company which stops in Inverness this month, is to be his last.
After 11 years with the company and 20 years of dance, the 42-year-old is retiring.
When asked how he feels to give up the thing he fell in love with at first sight, Daniel just said:”I guess I will never stop dancing.
“I can find other ways to dance that maybe does not have to do with the physical effort.”
Sao Paulo Dance Company UK premiere
Daniel has been a member of the Sao Paulo Dance Company since 2013.
Fusing classical ballet and Latin American dance, “Brazil’s finest dance company” is arriving at Eden Court in Inverness this month as part of their UK debut with Anthem.
The piece explores the idea of collective identities using 14 dancers and dramatic lighting to create an intense and emotional journey.
While it will not be Daniel’s first time in the UK, he has never been to Scotland before and said he cannot wait to visit some of the sites in Inverness.
However due to the nature of a busy schedule, he said he is waiting until they are on the plane over to make any final plans.
“This tour is very important for the company, for me, for all of us,” he added. “It’s the first time we’re going to Scotland and England.
“It’s a long tour with 14 cities and 28 shows and besides that it’s very special for me because it’s my farewell. The last show will be my last as a dancer in the company because I will retire after that.”
Daniel admitted he began dancing quite a bit later than most of his colleagues. And funnily enough, it was rowing that started it all.
In his hometown of Rosario in Argentina, Daniel would often row on the river and became a bit of a professional.
When he was 15 years old, a fellow rower invited him to her sister’s end of year dance.
Daniel said: “So I went there and I fell in love. And the next day I was taking my first dance class. It was love at first sight.”
Daniel could not stay away from dance
At the time though, his family – who now are big fans – were not very happy with his newfound passion. Wanting their son to be a doctor or lawyer, Daniel stopped after not receiving their support.
However a few years later Daniel could not stay away and started dancing again.
He explained: “I met my former teacher who said to me ‘If you really want to dance, you’ve got talent you just have to dedicate yourself for the next two years. Just to study and bring back the years you lost because you started late.”
In 2004, Daniel studied for a few years before joining the cast of Ballet Contemporáneo del Teatro San Martin under the direction of Mauricio Wainrot.
The next year he traveled to Chile to dance with the Ballet de Santiago, directed by Marcia Haydée where he performed in works such as John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and Maurice Bejart’s Bolero.
Then while on a holiday in Brazil, Daniel took some classes at the Sao Paulo Dance Company and was hooked.
So at the age of 31, Daniel moved: “I was kind of getting a little bored and tired of dancing only ballet. So I came here, it was like it opened doors to a new world….It was a fusion and here we dance both styles.”
Anthem: ‘You can laugh you can cry’
The company’s only non-Brazilian dancer has had many highlights over the years but he said for him, Goyo Montoro’s Anthem is “revolutionary”.
“It was so hard at the beginning for 26 minutes we did not leave the stage,” he added. “This was a new thing for me, because when you don’t leave the stage, it makes you never disconnect from the piece.
“But Anthem it grows inside of you. The message basically is when we break unity, we can’t live without the other.
“It doesn’t exist without the other and without conflict, because life is with the other and with conflict.”
When asked what Inverness audiences can expect, he added: “They have to expect a very intense show, where you can laugh and you can cry.
“Maybe at the end of it, you are in shocked state of mind…. It takes time to comprehend what you saw.”
The Sao Paulo Company is performing at Eden Court in Inverness from Tuesday March 19 to Wednesday March 20. To get tickets, visit Eden Court’s website.
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