Oscar 2024: the Argentine artist who made Emma Stone shine in a scene that went around the world

In a scene of Poor creatures -perhaps the most memorable of the films nominated for the 11 Oscars 2024-, the character of Emma Stone, Bella Baxterhe argues with his adventure companion, Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo)in a room in old Lisbon.

Start playing “Portuguese Dance II” and zaz!, the girl’s adult body starts to “bounce” to the rhythm of the sounds of Fendrix shirt.

The Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos You can have very clear ideas, create universes where there is a void, etc., etc. But what I assure you, dear reader, is that you don’t know how to perform perfect choreography. And that’s what Constanza Macras is for.

Macras is Argentinian. He is 53 years old and has lived in Berlin, Germany, since the mid-1990s. There he runs his own dance company Dorky Park. The dance group he is responsible for has permanent members and freelance and is recognized throughout the world.

A work she presented at the Hellenic Festival in Athens, Greece, was the tornado that transported her, like Dorothy, to a fantasy world like that of the Wizard of Oz: that of Lanthimos.

How did you come to Povere Creature?

The dance scene in Poor Creatures is not the only fruit of Macras’ experience. The Argentine also coordinated the movements of the subsequent clash. Furthermore, he shot three scenes for The Favourite. One in the forest, another with Emma Stone and Olivia Colman and, the most remembered, the one at Rachel Weisz and Joe Alwyn’s ball.

His work on Lanthimos’ new film was different from his work on The Favourite, as Poor Creatures was filmed during the pandemic. She rehearsed exclusively with the main actors. It was three hours a day for ten days over two weeks. “Quite a bit,” Macras pointed out.

They dedicated an entire day of filming to the dance: 14 hours of practically uninterrupted work. 60 takes until you find perfection. The fight took the same amount of time to film and both were filmed in Budapest, Hungary.

The choreographer explains: “The cameraman changed positions several times and we had trouble editing it because the extras were constantly dancing around and in circles, so cutting was quite difficult. “They were never in the same place.”

Do you want to describe the scene in question?

On Stone and Ruffalo touring together: She did it. It was a proposal that I loved. And then there’s a little moment where it’s kind of twerking, right? (and no, that’s not a reference to Margaret Qualley’s dance in the famous perfume ad).

For Stone’s character you had to work with an adult playing a child. How was it?

And Yorgos gave you total freedom?

Were the actors receptive?

How do you feel with all the impact the scene has had around the world?

Macras doesn’t stop working. Between the Oscars, his works already released and still in production, a participation in a film and the preparation of a new show for September – which begins production next month – his schedule is about to explode.

Dorky Park’s next work is inspired, in part, by a novel by Juan José Saer, and in it the team will work with content creators and Constanza will surely combine, as she has done in several previous works, the best of other worlds to shape its one exclusively yours.

Its origins are reflected, for example, in Dramaa show that includes the Argentine magazine.

In your work the combination of topics, styles, cultures is a constant. What was it like taking the Argentine magazine abroad?

For Drama, Macras was inspired by stories from the world of Argentine magazines. He investigated archive material, exhibitions, such as the Foto Estudio Luisita in Malba, conversations between stars of the 80s and more.

How long does it take from when you start preparing a job to its completion?

Is your daily work focused on this?

Yes. I have to work in parallel because otherwise I won’t get there. For example, I am now going to Manchester for a project. It’s a search/casting.

And here, in Argentina?

I hope we go; we want to go. We have the support of the Goethe-Institut to present a play called The West, which is one of my favourites. We’re waiting to see when it will be possible to make it, so let’s hope it comes to fruition. It would be in October because we will go to Brazil and Chile. Then, of course, it would be wonderful to go to Argentina, to the Teatro San Martín. We’re not sure yet, but we are in negotiations..

Stone fights head-to-head for the Oscar for best actress Lily Gladstone, co-star of The Moon Killers. If she wins there will be no surprise, and deep down we will know that, in part, it is because she was able to show her versatility in a scene that promised to be a classic.