Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, 13 january 2013

Choreography, concept and decor: Ed Wubbe

Romeo performed by: Maxime Lachaume

Julia performed by: Chiara Mezzadri

Muscic: The legendary love orchestra

Scapino Ballet presents a remake of

'Romeo en Julia'

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”  Who doesn’t know this world famous sentence?

A tragedy which was written around 1594-95 by William Shakespeare, has been filmed, the music has been re-composed by more than eight different composers and it has been performed by several dance companies.

With the remake of Romeo en Julia, the Scapino Ballet succeeded to breathe new life into this old fashion tragedy.

A triangular light plane was projected in the upper left corner of the stage. A dark skin colored man was playing on a djembe while he was entering the stage followed by Romeo and his friends. After a while, Tybalt and his friends entered the stage as well. A group with Tybalt in the front, dressed in black, with high black boots and the presence that he had made a clear statement. The tension that arose between these two rivals, Romeo and Tybalt, erupted in a fight. The fight reflected in pushing and throwing each other around in the space with acrobatic tricks on the back wall of the stage that was built up in a diagonal.

This part of the performance attracted me a lot because of the tension they created. The djembe in the beginning was a kind of warning, like there was a upcoming storm, it grabbed my attention immediately. With the entrance of Tybalt and his friends I could really feel the tension rising.

One of the male dancers in this “chaotic” part was Jefta Tanate , a recently graduated dancer from ArtEZ. I admire his way of moving and the use of tricking elements, a combination of martial arts and the contemporary dance. Really fascinating to see!

Jefta Tanate performing in Romeo & Julia

As the choreographer was saying himself in an interview that this remake of Romeo and Juliet could also took place in Afghanistan, Irak or Syrië had to do with the music that was been played by “The Legendary love Orchestra” who were playing live on stage. A mix of different cultures like India, Senegal, Brazil and Africa and a combination of instruments such as djembe, Indian table and Argentine bandoneon created a middle east atmosphere. 

The relation between the dancers and musicians worked so strong, they really mattered instead of having just some music with the performance. It took me into the story. The men had a really strong presence, with using small movements they still had a good physicality. Also the costumes the men were wearing made them looked like they were ruling, powerful!

To see a performance without being forced to go deep into the story line and to enjoy more the sensation of movements and music I would definitely recommend this performance. 

Reviewed by: Maarten Krielen

Mouvements... Mouvements... MOUVEMENTS!!!!!

On the 27th November of 2013, in the Schouwburg in Arnhem, The “Compagnie Marie Chouinard” performed an incredible work named “Henri Michaux: Mouvements”. This piece has the hands and mind of Marie Chouinard in the choreography, artistic direction, lightning, set design, costumes and hairstyle. The original music is from Louis Dufort, the Sound environment is from Edward Freedman and the poem/ Post face/ projected drawings are from Henri Michaux, from his book “Mouvements” of 1951. It’s also important to say that this piece was performed by 10 dancers and this work was produced with the support of ImPlusTanz (Vienna) in the 2^nd august 2011.

I think that I have to say to you that I really didn't know what to expect from the performance few minuts before the begining of the same... But let me say to you what did I saw!!  

Marie Chouinard, a Canadian choreographer and dancer, discovered the book “Mouvements” by Henri Michaux in 1980. She read it and brought the book the company’s work as a score for her choreography. It is interesting to see that she used all the book: all the drawings, pages, words of the poem that is also in the book… everything!  

The drawings were projected in the background of the stage one by one, allowing us to also read the book and do a kind of a personal reflection and reading of the images of the author. The dancers were dressed in black and dancing on a white floor just like the white page and the black drawings being projected on the background. Has Gia Kourlas wrote in the “New York Times” at the 9^th November 2013: “They could be shadow puppets.”

For me this work of Marie Chouinard was refreshing and bright, not brilliant, not perfect but it is not really far from that. It is incredible to see how a simple idea, a simple choreographic score can create such a beautiful and challenging performance not just for the dancers/ performers that are in the stage but also for the audience that is sited on their chairs but at the same part being challenged physically and mentally. It was really interesting for me to see something that I think be a contradiction: The aesthetics of the movement are important (because the goal was to be the closer from the images of the book), but at the same time I did not see a preoccupation or a more focus idea of trying to make this aesthetics of the movement beautiful… And that, for me, made all the piece beautiful and honest. It is also important to say that the performers were really good and they were always present in all the peace, you could see the focus that they were putting on they’re performance. This performance also shows that is important to be a complete performer, it is not justmoving the body, it is also important the voice, the mind… everything that a performer can do, it Is a tool to use on the creative process and on the performance. Dance is not just moving the body… I think that everyone that likes to see dance or performances should go to see this piece. The simplicity of it shows us that we don’t need to be complex to appreciate or to do something beautiful, artistic, enjoyable and challenging.

João Santiago

Another spectator shocked by Jan Fabre

At the Stadschouwberg in October of 2013

Although the performance, “Theater as it was to be expected and to be foreseen”, had premiered in 1982, it still struck me as innovative and stunning 31 years after. I was personally drawn to see this work because one of my teachers opened up my appetite and desire to experience a very lengthy piece, such as this one, which was 8-hours long. Though timing was fundamental to the piece, I would rather skip commenting about that and focus my writing on another aspect: the “realness” of the performance.

Throughout the performance, there were several scenes that I found especially interesting because of how “real” they appeared to be. Nothing seemed artificial. The performers were being themselves and allowed each situation to affect them in a personal way.

During one scene we could see: A man and a woman, both dressed in suits, with matching dark coats and trousers and a white t-shirt underneath. They were challenging each other to see who was the fastest at getting undressed. They took their full attire off-and-on, off-and-on, off-and-on, repeatedly, for more than one hour. Since they went on for so long, their exhaustion could no longer be hidden, and their anger or frustration while trying to beat each other also slipped onto the stage. You never knew who was going to win that time and their honest feelings were fun to see.

In another moment, a girl walked on with a parakeet tied on a string. Before you knew it, all of the performers were on stage, blindfolded, each with a parakeet on a leash. They all walked slowly towards one woman, who tied the ends of their strings together. This way, all the parakeets were connected to each other making a nice star-like shape with their leashes. The scene was very irritating, even hard to look at because you weren’t sure if the birds were okay. It was clear, however, that the poor animals were not happy. One kept trying to fly away, but since he was attached to his buddies, the string around his neck would quickly though him back to the center. He tried flying away several times and eventually started to chirp and squeal as his body was tossed and rolled on the floor due to the pulling of the string. The dancers exited the space and all that was left was the saddening image of colorful birds suffering. It ended when a lady, blind-folded, came on and searched for the birds, almost stepping on one, to catch them under a jacket and take them away. In this case, the “realness” of the act is what intensified my feelings and made me hesitate and ponder over the situation.

After all, seeing a realistic performance can be exciting and fun, scary or dangerous, but the beauty of it all lies on how the realness affects us as an audience. From one side, our empathy allows us to feel the same as someone who is truly going through happiness or rage. And from another point; performing in this way, being present with the moment and allowing the situation to play out in a slightly different way each day gives us, the spectators, a sense of unpredictability and curiosity that I adore.
Find out more about Jan Fabre here:  http://janfabre.be/