London Bridge Contact Improvisation Friday23 june 4-6pm
via[msdm] | 20.06.2006 12:37 | Culture | Free Spaces | Workers' Movements | London
A group of approximately eight dancers will perform Contact Improvisation dressed in office suits, while slowly moving through the bridge, in silence. This will involve passing through the crowd of people that is, in its most part, coming from the City centre on their way home to the suburbs, after a busy office day job.
Our intent is to present this target (passer-by) audience with a suggestion of how to end an office working day. By the mirroring of his/her dress-code by the performer, the spectator becomes virtually part of the performance. The identification of spectator with the performer emerges from this dress-code commonality. At the same time, contrast between them is aroused by the spontaneous, surprising, self and mutually aware, „organic" and relaxing movements of the performer against the rushing, mechanic, stressful, translocation-focused, predictable and routine-like atmosphere of the audience.
In fact, awkwardly, the performers‚ movement directly contrasts with their own dress code which is predictable, formal and politically corrected, when not obligatory.
We expect this performance to cast moments of doubt in the spectator, to how much this is a set performance or how much it could be a spontaneous manifestation of the passer-bys themselves. In this way, it will subtlety provoke the spectators‚ mind into a reflection on what is accepted or awkward in the public space, normal or abnormal, legitimate or censurable, and on what base does one make such judgments. This will possibly foster mind openness to other possibilities of relaxing after work-hours, of using an office suit, of interacting with work colleagues, etc.
Questions that can arise consciously or sub-consciously in the spectator‚s mind may concern dualities as the real-fictional, the possible-impossible, the legitimate-censurable, the acceptable-awkward. Is it acceptable to be me? Is being me, better? Is being better, necessary? Is being normal, necessary? Is expressing myself, possible? Is „better" necessarily normal? Is the normal necessarily better? Is the other possibility, frightening? Is the other, frightening? Can I be other possibilities, still being myself?
Why not respect spontaneity, praise transparency, un-judge joy, overcome strangeness, override distance, contemplate detail, respect awkwardness, legitimise humanity, un-fear honesty, expect simplicity, greet abnormality, predict a smile, „possibilize" other behaviours.
In fact, awkwardly, the performers‚ movement directly contrasts with their own dress code which is predictable, formal and politically corrected, when not obligatory.
We expect this performance to cast moments of doubt in the spectator, to how much this is a set performance or how much it could be a spontaneous manifestation of the passer-bys themselves. In this way, it will subtlety provoke the spectators‚ mind into a reflection on what is accepted or awkward in the public space, normal or abnormal, legitimate or censurable, and on what base does one make such judgments. This will possibly foster mind openness to other possibilities of relaxing after work-hours, of using an office suit, of interacting with work colleagues, etc.
Questions that can arise consciously or sub-consciously in the spectator‚s mind may concern dualities as the real-fictional, the possible-impossible, the legitimate-censurable, the acceptable-awkward. Is it acceptable to be me? Is being me, better? Is being better, necessary? Is being normal, necessary? Is expressing myself, possible? Is „better" necessarily normal? Is the normal necessarily better? Is the other possibility, frightening? Is the other, frightening? Can I be other possibilities, still being myself?
Why not respect spontaneity, praise transparency, un-judge joy, overcome strangeness, override distance, contemplate detail, respect awkwardness, legitimise humanity, un-fear honesty, expect simplicity, greet abnormality, predict a smile, „possibilize" other behaviours.
via[msdm]
