CLUB GUY & RONI / TANZMAINZ

MY PRIVATE ODYSSEY

by

Guy Weizman and Roni Haver

Music composition

David Dramm and Tomoko Mukaiyama

Text

Ko van den Bosh

Dramaturgy

Veerle van Overloop

3/5 stars

The dance company Club Guy & Roni in co-production with German company tanzmainz presented on Thursday 22.1.2015 in theatre Stadsschouwburg in Utrecht “My private Odyssey”.

The dance performance “My private Odyssey” sounds a bit as a historical reconstruction of Homer. With this kind of expectation the watcher is going to be surprised. I am glad that it was a current processing of Homer and not a historical reconstruction. It was perform very well, however I left the theatre with mixed thoughts and it didn’t touch me personally as I expected.

Choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver brought the essence and inspiration of Homer’s Odyssey and transferred it to the present issues. In this deal it was possible to see a dancers and musicians on stage in cooperation. The musicians and their live music and live present on the stage increased even more the dynamic of this performance. In fact one of the musician had a role more as a performer. This special role was quite solo performance between dancers and musicians and through this character choreographers created a connection which made undivided piece from it. The text which was participating a plot of the piece and spoken by a man presented in television, in the first moment could be seen that it doesn’t fit to the performance that the text is more about philosophic questions with unclear words. But it became a little guidance for the performers as well as for the audience.

How the title of performance says “My private Odyssey”, it means that each of the performers have their own private Odyssey. They have their own approach, the way how to deal with the returning back home and time of absence. And it is whole performance about – journey.

The performance included beautiful symbols as well. A paper boats are as symbols of journey and travelling. A lot of varieties of the fully red costumes are as symbol of the long hard bloody Trojan War. The viewer has to pay so much attention what is happening on the stage, out of the stage, what the projection shows and what the speaker says. Unfortunately it is possible to get lost in the piece.

As said, it was beautifully perform but I got lost from so much happening on stage and that might be a reason why it didn’t get to me personally and I left the theatre with mixed feelings.

Maybe it can be a one of choreographic goal to confuse the audience and focus them to think about private Odyssey. What gives to the piece direct approach and connection with society today. Because “COMING BACK IS NOT THE SAME AS STAYING” someone wrote.