Here are performances I saw these days.
24/07/10 Confluence Akram Khan& Nitin Sawney, Sadler's Wells
Akram's dancing always make me feel the presence of God. Together with live music by Nitin and his band, the performance was very delicious. I don't need to think and analyse. Nothing is complicated. But I just had such a great time. Thinking about my own practice, I want to reach that level. Like the quotes they used in the performance (quotes from the programme):
Jung spoke of a collective unconscious.
Michelangelo referred to the discovery of his sculptures within the stone.
Musicians of ten speak of acting as mediums for music to manifest itself and dancers contemplate that it is through Shiva's dance that our universe was created and will be destroyed.
25/07/10 Festival of Paper- unfolding the journey of art through paper, BHVU Gallery
Mildred Rambaud was performing Butoh with a huge piece of pleated waxed paper that she created. I am sharing a night with her in October at Cafe OTO. Very focused performance as intense as Butoh should be. Sexual in sophisticated way. She is a strong woman though she always smiles like a boiled potato outside her performance.
29/07/10 Mark Kozelek, Union Chapel
One man show. He sings and plays guitar of the songs he made although he improvise at some degree too. It took for a while for me and perhaps for him to get really into it. A few songs at the beginning I felt the performance was flat but after a point, the magic started to work. I can hear (and even see) the thread of sound coming out from his body, which extends and tangles with other threads. Another level of music and performance that really make me appreciate the art, spirituality and human.
Union Chapel is a chapel so people sit down on the hard wooden bench with soft drinks. It is a famous music venue and it was surprising for me to discover the fact. This also make us appreciate the music more.
15/08/10 Tanguera, Sadler's Wells
The summer show at Sadler's of course target very general public, who may be tourists or people who go theatre once a year. Tanguera has a story to follow, which I did not follow as usual when I watch musical theatre. For me, the dancing and singing happening on stage now is more exciting than the simple story. I used to watch musical theatre a lot- two or three a month. Then there was a time when I had enough because I figured out all the template in musical theatre. I saw the template here again. The notable fact is one of the dancers was 72 years old. Wow. I thought she was in her 40's on stage.
17/08/10 Lost Villages, Sam Seager, The Orange Dot
Photography exhibition of an English man who spent three months travelling and shooting abandoned or dying villages in Japan. He writes nice text for each picture too, which shows the warmth of elderly habitats and also himself. This is not how I see Japan and its people but the objects in the background of the figure triggers some nostalgic feeling of me. Why do they always wrap everything with plastic carriers from a shop? My mother always do. There was a picture of abandoned hotel in Kozushima island. Many hotels were made in 80's when they were in boom but now they have few people who visit the island. I don't know exactly where Kozushima is, but I have heard the name a lot everyday basis in 80's. My father made an architecture there, perhaps a hotel. Does he know that they are abandoned like this? It could be that my parents are still living in that era, without changing or decaying. Or I just don't know the change and decay because I have been away so long.
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Sunday, 8 August 2010
What I saw these days, June-July 2010
OK. Here are 11 events I have attended, and 7 of them are outside of theatres. They are in a bunker, abandoned building, square, historical house, hotel converted from town hall, and open space. Any place can be preference space. This is the current tendency in dance and performance, and I am very much interested in this kind of performance.
10/07/2010 Nederlands Dans Theatre, Programme 2, Sadler's Wells
I saw only the second piece by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, as I was working as an usher. Great body and technique of the dancers, great scenography but it did not touch me.
10/07/2010 The Bunker Thing, Bootstrap Bunker, Dalston, presented by East London Dance and Avant Garde Dance
Site-specific street dance. I felt powerful commitment of the performers and the site, bunk had very specific humidity, smell, dust and darkness, which were also powerful. I cannot deny the feeling that the performance is still the extension of 'community dance'. It may come from the fact that the majority of the performers were young probably in their early twenties. But I appreciate the project that conjoined the bunk and these young street dancers, who seem to share particular kind of anger and darkness.
08/07/2010 You Me Bum Bum Train, LEB Building, presented by Barbican
I am totally overwhelmed. And I had to face on my lack of confidence on talking and also lack of awareness towards social issues. It was painful, in the end.
The performance itself was really well done. It's all about you. You are forced to go through different rooms, to play different roles, and to talk about your opinions... It's meant to be fun experience, according to the programme note, which gives you a sense of achievement.
For me, it turned out to be painful experience due to my strong nature of self-accusation. I have realised the fact that no one actually accuse me but myself, and this is happening always and this is how I exhaust myself...
06/07/2010 Slow Dancing, David Michalek, Trafalger Square, presented by Sadler's Wells
There are several stages to appreciate this work in Trafalgar Square. There are three massive screens that anyone who passes by would notice. And the screes show three figures in unusual poses on each screen. This is the best advert for dance.
Then if anyone who decided to stop by, they notice the figures are moving very slowly. In my case, I felt luck of patience here.
I tell myself to stay and wait to settle down for actual watching. I stay and watch. Then I notice the relationship between three dancers, that may be happening or not. Sometimes I just amazed by lines of dancing body, sometimes elegant, sometimes powerful and sometimes unnaturally straight.
Someone tells me to have closer look at the images. I go under the screens. I see muscles of the dancers. They are all beautiful. I feel something organic at last.
I look around in the square. There are many people standing, watching, chatting, and relaxing and sitting on steps. It is the power of a square to gather people in this way, and also the three massive screen hold them there.
06/07/2010 Nederlands Dans Theatre, Programme 1, Sadler's Wells
I had not watched conventional dance for long time. I simply enjoy their great physicality and pay respect to their techniques that has been established after years and years of training. I know the enjoyment of dancing difficult steps in precise way, but I don't get excited by watching them as much as by doing them. I question what dance wants to achieve? I want to achieve strong communication through dance. So the steps really does not tell me things. Careful gestures and a way to stand that reflects the dancer oneself mean more to me. And scenography. The environment a performer is placed tells me more stories. Watching one of the best companies in the world, I have noticed where I stand and where I want to go.
04/07/2010 Lauder Dance House, Carlos Cortes, Lauderdale House
I went to see my friend Fumi dancing in this. On sunny summer Sunday afternoon, Lauderdale House is full of families with children. I like the opportunity for dancers to be exposed to the community and for the community to be exposed to dance. It is like a small gift in life, nice meeting point of people.
I have heard the director Carlos has visual art background. At some point, I started wondering what's the difference between dance and visual art. What's the difference between still figures and moving body? What's the difference between tasks or games and genuine action-reaction? What is special about dance with living bodies?
-BREATH
01/07/2010 Town Hall Artworks, walkwalkwalk, Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, produced by Artsadmin
I like going to unusual architectures and that was the reason I attended to this event. Town Hall Hotel and Apartments is a luxury designers hotel converted from the historical town hall. They commissioned several young artists to make works for the building, and walkwalkwalk is one of them. They are a group of poets and their poetry based on some description of local community in old times (80's?) are engraved on plastic plates and placed on walls in many different locations in the building. The event was a tour of the building following the poets reading out each of the poems.
The concept of the hotel itself and the artwork commissions are interesting. But poetry is not my favorite form. Maybe because English is not my mother tongue, I tend to miss some of the information in a poem and cannot read between sentences.
26/06/2010 In Pieces, Tim Etchells &Fumiyo Ikeda, Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells
On the other hand, this performance is more like reading between sentences. Tim Etchells made fragmented text with Fumiyo that take a form of lists counting from one. For example,"one, I don't like garlics""two, I saw it" etc. Fumiyo combines talking, moving and dancing. There is something word can express, something between words and something dance can express. Emotion tend to go with words, which expresses more concrete fact and direct impact. Dance can take this fact further into the universe. I enjoyed the evaporation of meanings as I jump to different places with different emotions, each of which led by the text.
26/06/2010 Dalston (un)folded, Origami&Memory, London Festival of Architecture
I just happened to participate this event one Saturday afternoon. I saw hundreds of Origami cranes connected in lines and hanging in front of a building in Dalston. It's organised by architects. They also had a huge map of the area, where each of us can put a sticker at a place one has some memory. Everyone was also given a sheet of paper, part of which one create a origami crane to add the sculpture, and other part of which one write what memory one has with the place marked on the map. Dalston is rapidly changing last a few years with its redevelopment. An architect explained me that they are also interested how people feel and live in the area, as well as making buildings. I am impressed by the approach of architects who look at more human side and I liked how they explain their idea through this event where they communicate with residents by giving the instructions of the activities.
10/06/2010 Kabuki, Sadler's Wells
I was most happy to experience the special gentle atmosphere in the theatre with lots of Japanese people, some of them in traditional Kimono. I appreciate the form and style although I look at the opposite side in my own practice.
For the first time in watching Kabuki, I realised how the whole thing- sound and visual are well composed. I had never paid attention to the sound before. Kabuki 歌舞伎 means singing- dancing - skill. It is a form of musical theatre, indeed.
09/06/2010 Electric Hotel, Kings Cross, A pop-up out door dance performance presented by Sadler's Wells
They built 'Electric Hotel' for this show in open space in Kings Cross. People watch the performance taking place in the building from the outside through hotel's large windows. The audience wear a head set to listen to the sound.
What I enjoyed the most was the scenery and change of light around the hotel building. It is outside and we can see the church and Kings Cross Station behind the Electric Hotel. The show started at 9.45pm, when the sun was not completely gone and as the performance progressed it became dark. That was beautiful experience. I enjoyed some of the sound I heard through the headset. The distance of sound is somehow more remarkable on the headset. When we hear very close sound, we are not sure if it's actual sound in live or recorded sound in the headset. I see more potential in this matter.
10/07/2010 Nederlands Dans Theatre, Programme 2, Sadler's Wells
I saw only the second piece by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, as I was working as an usher. Great body and technique of the dancers, great scenography but it did not touch me.
10/07/2010 The Bunker Thing, Bootstrap Bunker, Dalston, presented by East London Dance and Avant Garde Dance
Site-specific street dance. I felt powerful commitment of the performers and the site, bunk had very specific humidity, smell, dust and darkness, which were also powerful. I cannot deny the feeling that the performance is still the extension of 'community dance'. It may come from the fact that the majority of the performers were young probably in their early twenties. But I appreciate the project that conjoined the bunk and these young street dancers, who seem to share particular kind of anger and darkness.
08/07/2010 You Me Bum Bum Train, LEB Building, presented by Barbican
I am totally overwhelmed. And I had to face on my lack of confidence on talking and also lack of awareness towards social issues. It was painful, in the end.
The performance itself was really well done. It's all about you. You are forced to go through different rooms, to play different roles, and to talk about your opinions... It's meant to be fun experience, according to the programme note, which gives you a sense of achievement.
For me, it turned out to be painful experience due to my strong nature of self-accusation. I have realised the fact that no one actually accuse me but myself, and this is happening always and this is how I exhaust myself...
06/07/2010 Slow Dancing, David Michalek, Trafalger Square, presented by Sadler's Wells
There are several stages to appreciate this work in Trafalgar Square. There are three massive screens that anyone who passes by would notice. And the screes show three figures in unusual poses on each screen. This is the best advert for dance.
Then if anyone who decided to stop by, they notice the figures are moving very slowly. In my case, I felt luck of patience here.
I tell myself to stay and wait to settle down for actual watching. I stay and watch. Then I notice the relationship between three dancers, that may be happening or not. Sometimes I just amazed by lines of dancing body, sometimes elegant, sometimes powerful and sometimes unnaturally straight.
Someone tells me to have closer look at the images. I go under the screens. I see muscles of the dancers. They are all beautiful. I feel something organic at last.
I look around in the square. There are many people standing, watching, chatting, and relaxing and sitting on steps. It is the power of a square to gather people in this way, and also the three massive screen hold them there.
06/07/2010 Nederlands Dans Theatre, Programme 1, Sadler's Wells
I had not watched conventional dance for long time. I simply enjoy their great physicality and pay respect to their techniques that has been established after years and years of training. I know the enjoyment of dancing difficult steps in precise way, but I don't get excited by watching them as much as by doing them. I question what dance wants to achieve? I want to achieve strong communication through dance. So the steps really does not tell me things. Careful gestures and a way to stand that reflects the dancer oneself mean more to me. And scenography. The environment a performer is placed tells me more stories. Watching one of the best companies in the world, I have noticed where I stand and where I want to go.
04/07/2010 Lauder Dance House, Carlos Cortes, Lauderdale House
I went to see my friend Fumi dancing in this. On sunny summer Sunday afternoon, Lauderdale House is full of families with children. I like the opportunity for dancers to be exposed to the community and for the community to be exposed to dance. It is like a small gift in life, nice meeting point of people.
I have heard the director Carlos has visual art background. At some point, I started wondering what's the difference between dance and visual art. What's the difference between still figures and moving body? What's the difference between tasks or games and genuine action-reaction? What is special about dance with living bodies?
-BREATH
01/07/2010 Town Hall Artworks, walkwalkwalk, Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, produced by Artsadmin
I like going to unusual architectures and that was the reason I attended to this event. Town Hall Hotel and Apartments is a luxury designers hotel converted from the historical town hall. They commissioned several young artists to make works for the building, and walkwalkwalk is one of them. They are a group of poets and their poetry based on some description of local community in old times (80's?) are engraved on plastic plates and placed on walls in many different locations in the building. The event was a tour of the building following the poets reading out each of the poems.
The concept of the hotel itself and the artwork commissions are interesting. But poetry is not my favorite form. Maybe because English is not my mother tongue, I tend to miss some of the information in a poem and cannot read between sentences.
26/06/2010 In Pieces, Tim Etchells &Fumiyo Ikeda, Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells
On the other hand, this performance is more like reading between sentences. Tim Etchells made fragmented text with Fumiyo that take a form of lists counting from one. For example,"one, I don't like garlics""two, I saw it" etc. Fumiyo combines talking, moving and dancing. There is something word can express, something between words and something dance can express. Emotion tend to go with words, which expresses more concrete fact and direct impact. Dance can take this fact further into the universe. I enjoyed the evaporation of meanings as I jump to different places with different emotions, each of which led by the text.
26/06/2010 Dalston (un)folded, Origami&Memory, London Festival of Architecture
I just happened to participate this event one Saturday afternoon. I saw hundreds of Origami cranes connected in lines and hanging in front of a building in Dalston. It's organised by architects. They also had a huge map of the area, where each of us can put a sticker at a place one has some memory. Everyone was also given a sheet of paper, part of which one create a origami crane to add the sculpture, and other part of which one write what memory one has with the place marked on the map. Dalston is rapidly changing last a few years with its redevelopment. An architect explained me that they are also interested how people feel and live in the area, as well as making buildings. I am impressed by the approach of architects who look at more human side and I liked how they explain their idea through this event where they communicate with residents by giving the instructions of the activities.
10/06/2010 Kabuki, Sadler's Wells
I was most happy to experience the special gentle atmosphere in the theatre with lots of Japanese people, some of them in traditional Kimono. I appreciate the form and style although I look at the opposite side in my own practice.
For the first time in watching Kabuki, I realised how the whole thing- sound and visual are well composed. I had never paid attention to the sound before. Kabuki 歌舞伎 means singing- dancing - skill. It is a form of musical theatre, indeed.
09/06/2010 Electric Hotel, Kings Cross, A pop-up out door dance performance presented by Sadler's Wells
They built 'Electric Hotel' for this show in open space in Kings Cross. People watch the performance taking place in the building from the outside through hotel's large windows. The audience wear a head set to listen to the sound.
What I enjoyed the most was the scenery and change of light around the hotel building. It is outside and we can see the church and Kings Cross Station behind the Electric Hotel. The show started at 9.45pm, when the sun was not completely gone and as the performance progressed it became dark. That was beautiful experience. I enjoyed some of the sound I heard through the headset. The distance of sound is somehow more remarkable on the headset. When we hear very close sound, we are not sure if it's actual sound in live or recorded sound in the headset. I see more potential in this matter.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Performances I saw these days
Here are the performances I attended these days.
27/05/2010 From Morning, A day of dance curated by Florence Peake, Christ Church Spitalfields
I generally like a performance in non-theatre space, and improvisation. So this event seemed right for me. There were four pieces, each of which we watch and experience from different views; one facing the entrance of the nave, one facing the altar, one in the crypt and one from the upper gallery. If I can ask more, I wanted to see the piece adapted more responding the architecture and the space they have chosen to perform. Maybe I say that because I have seen Nikki's piece before in another venue, and I thought that space was more effective for this work. The church is obviously not build for a dance performance and there were lots of moments that I struggle to watch the performance beyond other people's heads or pillars. But once if I accept the fact that what I can see is what it is, I can let it go with the missing parts. Anyway I would not get EVERYTHING from the event. What I experience is the event... I fall into the thoughts on performance I have been playing with these days.
18/05/2010 Babel (words), Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet & Antony Gormley, Sadler's Wells
People make so much fuss about Sidi Larbi, and I have seen many works by him. To be honest, many pieces have faded out from my memory and the only one I remember is Sutra, the last piece hi made. On the other hand, I remember every work that Antony Gormley did in dance, with Sidi Larbi and Akram Kahn. I really enjoy such simple objects he makes create different spaces and meanings in relation to its uses in performance. The objects really get life.
In Babel (words), I saw this again, as well as other aspects in dance, physicality and humanity. The new thing in this work from Sidi Larbi is that there are more sense of humor. I have heard from other people that they did not like it because they are just kitsch and not funny. I don't disagree with them but I still like the stupidity because I think it is also part of human. A dance performance in a big venue like Sadler's Wells do not need to pretend 'high-art'. A real moment of creativity inhabits in people's playfulness, and it is OK to bring it on the stage, I think.
Including these stupid moments, the work had so much in it; great physicality of performers, abstract beauty of movement created by dance and the objects, social message and historical references. I enjoyed it every single moment.
16/05/2010 Would Like to Meet, non zero one, Barbican
It seems that it is becoming popular to provide a MP3 player and a headset to an audience member, who tours in a building following the direction given by the recorded voice. As far as I remember, this is the third time for me to have a headset to take a part in a performance, and this is the most well culcurated and completed one. There were probably two performers from the company who performs different roles in different time for different members of the viewers of six. So it is not about 'watching a performance'. It is about commiting yourself in the performance and interact with other audience members as the recorded voice pushes you to do so. There are some more activities you are told to do. In those moments, I felt the existace of myself feeling powerless as I have no other choices than folloing the instraction and trying to relax and enjoy myself doing the activity. It was very unique state of mind to be, and very powerful experience at the same time. I am very much interested in a performance in this kind of form, which the audience members really participate and create a performance for themselves in their own way.
27/05/2010 From Morning, A day of dance curated by Florence Peake, Christ Church Spitalfields
I generally like a performance in non-theatre space, and improvisation. So this event seemed right for me. There were four pieces, each of which we watch and experience from different views; one facing the entrance of the nave, one facing the altar, one in the crypt and one from the upper gallery. If I can ask more, I wanted to see the piece adapted more responding the architecture and the space they have chosen to perform. Maybe I say that because I have seen Nikki's piece before in another venue, and I thought that space was more effective for this work. The church is obviously not build for a dance performance and there were lots of moments that I struggle to watch the performance beyond other people's heads or pillars. But once if I accept the fact that what I can see is what it is, I can let it go with the missing parts. Anyway I would not get EVERYTHING from the event. What I experience is the event... I fall into the thoughts on performance I have been playing with these days.
18/05/2010 Babel (words), Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet & Antony Gormley, Sadler's Wells
People make so much fuss about Sidi Larbi, and I have seen many works by him. To be honest, many pieces have faded out from my memory and the only one I remember is Sutra, the last piece hi made. On the other hand, I remember every work that Antony Gormley did in dance, with Sidi Larbi and Akram Kahn. I really enjoy such simple objects he makes create different spaces and meanings in relation to its uses in performance. The objects really get life.
In Babel (words), I saw this again, as well as other aspects in dance, physicality and humanity. The new thing in this work from Sidi Larbi is that there are more sense of humor. I have heard from other people that they did not like it because they are just kitsch and not funny. I don't disagree with them but I still like the stupidity because I think it is also part of human. A dance performance in a big venue like Sadler's Wells do not need to pretend 'high-art'. A real moment of creativity inhabits in people's playfulness, and it is OK to bring it on the stage, I think.
Including these stupid moments, the work had so much in it; great physicality of performers, abstract beauty of movement created by dance and the objects, social message and historical references. I enjoyed it every single moment.
16/05/2010 Would Like to Meet, non zero one, Barbican
It seems that it is becoming popular to provide a MP3 player and a headset to an audience member, who tours in a building following the direction given by the recorded voice. As far as I remember, this is the third time for me to have a headset to take a part in a performance, and this is the most well culcurated and completed one. There were probably two performers from the company who performs different roles in different time for different members of the viewers of six. So it is not about 'watching a performance'. It is about commiting yourself in the performance and interact with other audience members as the recorded voice pushes you to do so. There are some more activities you are told to do. In those moments, I felt the existace of myself feeling powerless as I have no other choices than folloing the instraction and trying to relax and enjoy myself doing the activity. It was very unique state of mind to be, and very powerful experience at the same time. I am very much interested in a performance in this kind of form, which the audience members really participate and create a performance for themselves in their own way.
Monday, 3 May 2010
What I saw these days
I go and see performance very often and sometimes go to an exhibition. I happened to see much more performances especially in April. I have feelings and thoughts for each of them but no enough time to write now. So here is the list. I will write down something later.
At the moment the ones I am especially moved and inspired are:
Philly Steak(s)
Relay
Psy
Gnosis
The Catastrophe Trilogy
--
1/05/2010 Philly Steak(s), March Dance Theatre@Candid Cafe
1/05/2010 Relay, Donatella Cabras&Gabriele Reuter @Goodenough College
29/04/2010 Psy, The 7 Fingers @Peacock Theatre
26/04/2010 Gnosis, Akram Kahn @Sadler's Wells
24/04/2010 Pictures from an Exhibition @Sadler's Wells
24/04/2010 Leaving, Simon Ellis @St.Pancras station
22/04/2010 Birdsongs, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot @The Curve, Barbican Art Gallery
17/04/2010 Delusion, Laurie Anderson @ Barbican Theatre
10/04/2010 What If... @Siobhan Davies Studios
04/04/2010 Kontakthof with teenagers over 14, Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Bausch @Barbican Theatre
3/04/2010 Kontakthof with ladies and gentlemen over 65, Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Bausch @Barbican Theatre
20/03/2010 Go Public@Tate Britain
13/03/2010 Akane Abe @St.Pancras station
11/03/2010 The Festival, The Catastrophe Trilogy, Lone Twin Theatre @ The Pit, Barbican Centre
06/03/2010 Dansdubble#13, SNDO4, @Melkweg Theatre, Amsterdam
02/03/2010 Alice Bell, The Catastrophe Trilogy, Lone Twin Theatre @ The Pit, Barbican Centre
28/02/2010 You Are Here, Deepblue, @Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells
16/02/2010 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, @Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
13/02/2010 Solos choreographed by Deborah Hay, @Siobhan Davies Studios
At the moment the ones I am especially moved and inspired are:
Philly Steak(s)
Relay
Psy
Gnosis
The Catastrophe Trilogy
--
1/05/2010 Philly Steak(s), March Dance Theatre@Candid Cafe
1/05/2010 Relay, Donatella Cabras&Gabriele Reuter @Goodenough College
29/04/2010 Psy, The 7 Fingers @Peacock Theatre
26/04/2010 Gnosis, Akram Kahn @Sadler's Wells
24/04/2010 Pictures from an Exhibition @Sadler's Wells
24/04/2010 Leaving, Simon Ellis @St.Pancras station
22/04/2010 Birdsongs, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot @The Curve, Barbican Art Gallery
17/04/2010 Delusion, Laurie Anderson @ Barbican Theatre
10/04/2010 What If... @Siobhan Davies Studios
04/04/2010 Kontakthof with teenagers over 14, Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Bausch @Barbican Theatre
3/04/2010 Kontakthof with ladies and gentlemen over 65, Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Bausch @Barbican Theatre
20/03/2010 Go Public@Tate Britain
13/03/2010 Akane Abe @St.Pancras station
11/03/2010 The Festival, The Catastrophe Trilogy, Lone Twin Theatre @ The Pit, Barbican Centre
06/03/2010 Dansdubble#13, SNDO4, @Melkweg Theatre, Amsterdam
02/03/2010 Alice Bell, The Catastrophe Trilogy, Lone Twin Theatre @ The Pit, Barbican Centre
28/02/2010 You Are Here, Deepblue, @Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells
16/02/2010 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, @Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
13/02/2010 Solos choreographed by Deborah Hay, @Siobhan Davies Studios
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Stranger Than Fiction: improv dance and comedy
I noticed a collective called Stranger Than Fiction probably several month ago. They do improvised dance performance once a month. Last Saturday, finally I managed to go and see their performance in a little modern church in Isligton.
There were three solos for 15 minutes each or so, and a duet for 20 minutes or so. The most remarkable point is that THEY ALL TALKED! It is not too unusual to talk in improvised dance but I would say it is one corner of improvised dance. They talk quite a lot, not only words, lots of lots of sentences. So basically they are telling absurd stories with talk and movement. It's funny. I laugh. But I can feel that the performer is trying to do something interesting so that people don't get bored. This brings me a question.
When I go to an improvised music gig, it seems that they are more going with the flow. They are not afraid of waiting until something comes up.
The approach in Henry's class is also like that. All the improvisers has gone through this kind of slow process for the body so that you can let the body's own intelligence come out.
But when improvisers perform, do they have to be out from the deep state of the body-centred? I don't mean that they have to stay in that state. The state always shifts and we go one to the other even in a second.
In a way, I felt a danger of improvised dance performance becomes comedy. Too much concern of the audience response changes the nature of improvisation.
This is an developing area, and we can try so much.
I feel I need to have a regular platform of improvisation dance, inspired by Amsterdam.
How can I make it happen?
There were three solos for 15 minutes each or so, and a duet for 20 minutes or so. The most remarkable point is that THEY ALL TALKED! It is not too unusual to talk in improvised dance but I would say it is one corner of improvised dance. They talk quite a lot, not only words, lots of lots of sentences. So basically they are telling absurd stories with talk and movement. It's funny. I laugh. But I can feel that the performer is trying to do something interesting so that people don't get bored. This brings me a question.
When I go to an improvised music gig, it seems that they are more going with the flow. They are not afraid of waiting until something comes up.
The approach in Henry's class is also like that. All the improvisers has gone through this kind of slow process for the body so that you can let the body's own intelligence come out.
But when improvisers perform, do they have to be out from the deep state of the body-centred? I don't mean that they have to stay in that state. The state always shifts and we go one to the other even in a second.
In a way, I felt a danger of improvised dance performance becomes comedy. Too much concern of the audience response changes the nature of improvisation.
This is an developing area, and we can try so much.
I feel I need to have a regular platform of improvisation dance, inspired by Amsterdam.
How can I make it happen?
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Ivana Müller, what is real?
Today I watched this show at Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells.
Ivana Müller
Playing Ensemble Again and Again (2008)
For 70 minutes, all is about only bows at the end of the show. Six performers in line move slowly but precisely. They repeat walking downstage, bowing, walking back upstage then going out in the wings. Slow-motion with the facial expression consists of a sequence of moments that have concentrated expressiveness like still images. My eyes and brain keep working busy to pick up their psychology behind the roles as performers they are playing, or their psychology behind themselves who were tortured by the slow-motion. What is real?
They utter some sentences that may describe real themselves or could be made-ups.
"three of us are homosexual, two of us are heterosexual and one is not sure" can be true, but
"we are between 35-60 years old" is clearly a lie. Then,
"we went to Big Ben at 11am to listen" we don't know if it's true or not.
Who can tell what is real.
And does it matter?
Ivana Müller
Playing Ensemble Again and Again (2008)
For 70 minutes, all is about only bows at the end of the show. Six performers in line move slowly but precisely. They repeat walking downstage, bowing, walking back upstage then going out in the wings. Slow-motion with the facial expression consists of a sequence of moments that have concentrated expressiveness like still images. My eyes and brain keep working busy to pick up their psychology behind the roles as performers they are playing, or their psychology behind themselves who were tortured by the slow-motion. What is real?
They utter some sentences that may describe real themselves or could be made-ups.
"three of us are homosexual, two of us are heterosexual and one is not sure" can be true, but
"we are between 35-60 years old" is clearly a lie. Then,
"we went to Big Ben at 11am to listen" we don't know if it's true or not.
Who can tell what is real.
And does it matter?
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