Tanz mit mir!
How to describe a project without giving too much away? Well it’s always a great question!
Tanz mit mir is an interactive dance project/performance. What does this mean?
I’ve always loved the idea of breaking down the barriers between performers and the audience and this is what I am doing here. It’s taking the performance viewing experience to a new place. In my pieces I try to create an atmosphere which engages the senses. In dance it is through feeling conveyed in movement and its perception by the audience. There is also the atmosphere created in the setting or site where the dance is performed. This itself is not unusual. So the question is how to use these ideas to take it further, more intensive and a little different?
The genre of immersive theatre really interests me. I have been to a few performances and found the experience amazing (If anyone is in London, go see Punchdrunk as they take the genre to a whole new level). It is the idea that a performance happens all around the viewer. The viewer is free to be in the space and the action happens all around them. Each member of the audience has a unique perspective and is immersed - closer to a real life view than a 3 wall theatre. This perspective really heightens the senses as one is surrounded by the action. It does create a little bit of insecurity, but at the same time opens the possibilities of what can happen. Immersive theatre is impressive, yet it still has the audience as a silent participant. The action can be extended to involve the audience, but it in itself it doesn’t take it to the point where one wants to dance.
To get the audience to dance, I needed to create openings and offerings of participation as part performance. In any performance there is a relationship between audience and performers. It is usually that the performers express and audience listens. Yes ,there is an energetic component that flows back and forward (most obvious when the audience applauds) yet convention has it as a very much one-sided relationship. So to develop this relationship and have the audience more involved, without giving them a specific task is a good challenge. In exploring this idea, my realisation is a direct connection is needed, yet to not be forceful, room that each person can be themselves. It is taking part without being the main actor. For dance, this means moving in the room without having the pressure of having to fulfil a role or get anything right. Being able to go as far as I want/can without being overwhelmed. It is also allowing oneself to be guided or lead, still with the space to feel free. Someone there to “hold my hand” and support me in a place of the unknown. A delicate balance! So how do I create this experience while also connecting with dance, what makes it so wonderful and how I can feel free in a spontaneous unknown moment?
Mary Whitehouse the dance therapist pioneer used the phrase: Birds fly, fish swim and humans move. Dance is the extension of movement with feeling. It has many purposes but the main one being self expression. If it is stylised, formed or left free, this inner need to move is always there. Just like a mind wanders when left to itself, give the body time and space and it will become restless. So here is the idea is to connect to ones body through dance. That means not only being surrounded (immersed) in dance but also being physically connected to the event.
Dance being a physical form of expression the next question is how to do this only using our bodies (without words)?
A lot of human connection comes from eye contact, mirroring. Yes we use our language skills, but it is the nonverbal communication that really connects us to each other. Physical presence. You can see this in the digital world of today, the way that text messages communicate but to have a real connection you need to meet in person. And these social skills and physical engagement, even to the point of physical contact (touch) have such a strong connective element. Also the sharing of common goals (moving together) creates a moment of attachment which when desired is comforting. So it is the connection to people that once established allows for spontaneous exploration.
The movement in the piece has been purposely kept simple. All the interactive parts are easy to follow along. There is nothing right or wrong in what one does. This is to provide a secure basis from which to explore movement. How does this movement feel? There is the possibility to extend and expand, but even still it is only if desired. Let’s say the base is something that I can rely on and if I don’t know what to do, go back to.
Using these tools of connection and movement I think I have stumbled upon an experience that makes “Tanz mit mir!” interesting and unique.
I’ll be very interested to hear peoples experiences from the evening. As we have been rehearsing and trying out the ideas, my feeling is there is a point where I want more. Rather than it being enough to have repeated a step a few times, it awakens a desire inside me to explore further. I can’t stand still for long. There is something in the experience that creates a lust for more!