27 August 2012

Talkativity

Rosas & graindelavoix | CESENA from Olivia Rochette Gerard-Jan Claes on Vimeo.

As often happens, we've disrupted a couple of performances. At both of Anne Teresa De Keersmacker's performances a couple of the jury got a little bit talky and a bit giggly. 

We're very very sorry. 

Up until that point we had been doing so well, but Keersmacker's work is challenging, though it's important to point out that the talkative girls actually liked the show a lot. 

One thing that is important to note is the historically evolving role of the audience and the expectations that we have of audience behaviour. It wasn't so long ago that the audience was found onstage and was more than welcome to talk and even interact. This tendency disappeared for a while but has shown strong signs of returning. A good chapter on the evolution of the role of the audience can be found in Clarke Mackey's book Random Acts of Culture. He argues that the reduction of the role of the spectator occurred in tandem with the reduction of the role of an active citizenship, though, Claire Bishop cautions against making too much of the political power of audience participation in her Artificial Hells

In any case, the role of the audience is always changing and if we are to take the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child seriously and include young people as active citizens, we may need a small rethink of their role at events like this. Is it reasonable to ask them not to attend? Probably not. Is it reasonable to ask them to not lose their shit when they see a naked man? Probably not. So what are we going to do? 

All I can do at this point is offer an apology to the performers and assure them that the young people meant no disrespect and that they did, in fact, enjoy the performances, it's just that sometimes enjoyment requires comment and a giggle. 



Romeo Castellucci's Folk, part 1 of 3.


Cesena at Sunrise

The jury got up at 4am this Sunday to watch Cesena, a music and dance piece by choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Here is the Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum on arrival at 4:45...



Anne talked to the kids in person before the show (earliest artist talk ever?) to explain the concept and prepare them for what they were about to watch. She talked about developing the show in Avignon, the middle ages, the plague...




The jury was given ginger/scallion soup as an early morning snack.. but they didn't go over too well


Coffee wasn't a much better alternative... eww


It's light outside! Consensus after the show?




We ate breakfast and were visited by one of the French dancers in the show, who answered lots of questions about her training and work as a dancer (Do you get paid? Did you go to dance school? Do you do it for the money or because you love it?)




The kids jamming on the player piano. Hassan was enamoured.


The Bochum kids dancing on the Europeras set. Their energy for 8am on a Sunday after a 2 hours non-stop dance performance was astounding.




Running up the risers... (see the video in the previous post)




Queen Lise, on Our Century

Then finally... home and back to bed.


Castellucci's Folk, part 2/3


Castellucci's Folk, part 3/3


Folk

On Saturday night, the jury saw Romeo Castellucci's new work created for the Gebläsehalle in Duisberg, "Folk." We had no idea what to expect and we won't ruin the surprise. But needless to say, we had fun taking off our shoes and splashing around during the show...


VIP arrival time



Julia's second moustache-related outfit


Damien on the red carpet


Inside, waiting with the theatre goers for the show to begin


Should I or shouldn't I?


A man came up to the jury while we were waiting and told him how great he thought it was that the kids were coming to see all these shows in their spare time



Hamsa with (formerly) Jenna's Canadian hand sanitizer he got in the trade game at 12 Rooms


curly hair twins


snacks and a post show artist talk with two performers from Folk



as always, judgement time...