At what moment does a performance
start? Is it when the audience is getting quiet and the lights are turning off?
Not with the choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver "Club Guy &
Roni".
As I enter the Schouwburg of Utrecht on the 22nd of January, “My Private
Odyssey” has already started even if I am one of the first spectators. It is
all about the journey of Odysseus and this journey begins with a women with a
flute on stage. The longer I sit on my seat and wait, the more do I realize
that there are more people on stage than I thought.
Everything is red, everything has power and everything is moving. The dancers
which are all dressed in red costumes are presenting the maximum of flexibility
and physical strength that can be possible. It is amazing what they can do but
it would be really impressive if I would only see the dancers.
But the stage
seems to move as well and swallow up the dancers. I don’t really notice when
performers are entering or leaving the stage.
The light-design plays a big role. On
the right and the left side of the stage there is a mobile of tiles hanging
down from the ceiling. On these tiles they project video patterns and if
dancers are on stage they become part of these lights. That means also that you
can not always see them which is a pity because it confuses the audience and
they can not see what they want to see.
It takes a while to figure out how many
dancers there are.
At some point I find out that there
are nine dancers and they are doing a great job. It is a very professional
level and the choreography shows what they can. From turns to jumps to high
legs to small detailed movements. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of material.
There are many movements which are repeated and some constellations are very
predictable. There is no surprise in the choreography. It is kind of obvious
what comes next. It doesn’t bother me as it would usually because there is not
the possibility to concentrate only on the dance.
The musicians are really integrated
in the performance since they are always present. For a long time I don’t
notice that the person with that overall, which covers also her face, is the
pianist. The flutist is playing the flute on the shoulders of a dancer or
sitting on the side of the stage and tinkers paper boats. It seems as if the
violinist has a more important role. If she is not in the middle of the stage
playing the violin and the drums at the same time, we can see her on a small
television on the left front corner of the stage just staring at us.
Is she the woman who is on the other
side of the phone? This question arises because on the right side there is this
man on television who is talking on the phone and smoking during the whole
performance. It is a telephone call that never ends. Often we can hear what he says.
All of this raises a lot of
questions. Too many for my taste because I am distracted from the power of
every small detail. It seems as if Weizman and Haver want to use every
possibility. Special light, video projections, television with and without
sound, live music, playback music, dancers on stage, dancers as part of the
audience, dancers screaming or talking into microphones, a toy dog, the imagination
of shipping on a towel.
It is a nice show to enjoy the evening. In my opinion it is necessary to be
really relaxed to handle it and maybe you should see it more than once to
really understand what is happening on stage. You will always miss something in
this performance because it is not possible to see everything that is going on.
Different people see a totally different performance.
Dance: Company
Club Guy & Roni in co-production with the company tanzmainz
Music Composition: David Dramm and Tomoko Mukaiyama
Live music: Tomoko
Mukaiyama (pianist), Monica Germino (violinist), Anne La Berge (flutist)
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