As much as I enjoy watching dance live on stage, there're many times I couldn't make it to a performance, and I'd have appreciated paying for a ticket to a digital recording of the show. I'm pretty happy that the pandemic lockdowns have forced many theaters to go online. Even when things calm down and we get back a semblance of theatre-going, I'd still welcome the option of a digital ticket.
T.H.E Dance Company has gone digital to showcase their works. #THEGOESONLINE I was pleased because I wanted to watch a show from T.H.E's Second Company, but that weekend was filled; with a livestream, at least I could walk the dog, appear at dinner with the friends, chat, and not miss this show. The Company's Artistic Director Kuik Swee Boon said,
While art essentially allows us to interpret life in a myriad of different ways, digitalisation has transformed our interactions with reality and it can be a double-edged sword. We are normalising a different way of socialising, and how we consume and view images and sounds.
T.H.E Second Company's works-in-progress themed 'liTHE' this year were streamed online. The incubation of these works take two years, and the ticketed shows over the weekend gave audiences a glimpse of their development and collaboration progress. They used Peatix for audience who wish to pay for the show. But it's publicly streamed via YouTube, and a Q&A session after on Zoom.
Four works by five artists (dancers and choreographers) were presented. There was a crackle in the audio streaming over YouTube for the first two works. It sounded like the crackle of an old record playing on a gramophone. Heh. Within a limited budget, the choreographers really had to step up to the digital showcase by considering astute camera angles in their works, doubling up as camera(wo)man, lighting and sorting out audio and resolution of hosting the livestream. How much the audience is able to see, is totally dependent on what the eye of the camera sees.
Every artist from the various performing arts must be doing this theme for this year and the next. We're all struggling to make sense of the new normal. Something which is normal to us might not be the 'norm' for governments or organizations. Whatever we feel, if we can't articulate it, it saps us of mental strength and fortitude. If we're tired of reading about it, watching it being expressed through dance is an option.
Re-Defining space. Re-Writing stories. Re:Writing explores two disparate chapters: Home & Chaos.
Six dancers filled up the stage space with two chairs and a cushion, and raincoats, set to a light-hearted tango-bachata beats. The space between home and work has integrated fully, and people with their stories move and adapt to new spaces and new concepts.
(2) “Kawayan” by Klievert Mendoza
"Kawayan" is Tagalog term for ‘bamboo’. Drawing out the fluidity of bamboo swaying in the breeze in this piece, the artist loves bamboo and he's inspired by,
how even the strongest of winds are unable to break it. And I should know very well, as I have seen and experienced natural calamities that destroy homes, but still, a bamboo at the end of the day will stand strong.
Five dancers, set to the chirping of birds and bubbling of streams to some sort of religious chanting. It was quite stunning visually. If this was meant to be an 'ohm' piece, it was rather mesmerizing. 'Be like bamboo.' Okaaay.
(3) IDEAL by Zunnur Zhafirah
This is a solo piece, set to a mash-up of spoken word, hip hop and jazz. It's a pre-recorded eight-minute clip because the Zunnur (or Zee) is in Australia. The artist asks,
What is Your Truth?
When we spiral downwards into our own dark thoughts and persist in digging a hole for ourselves and staying there, we lose grasp of the truth, or perhaps what is real. This piece is raw and leaves no doubts that it's exploring the inner mind's thoughts and turmoil. I was quite enthralled till I didn't take screenshot of this piece. Arrrrgh.
I thought that the artist bared her soul, but in the Q&A, she said she kept a part of it private. That's a dichotomy I wasn't expecting. That didn't come through, but yes, it's nice for artists to keep part of themselves private, and not feeling to pressure to share everything with the world.
(4) This Appearance by Nah Jie Ying
Form is empty, emptiness is form.
That is a learning from the Heart Sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. I understand that rather well. However, after this line, the blurb lost me. The choreograhper stated,
So I question: where is the start and where is the end to an occurrence? Is it important, or does the momentum of an existence flow regardless?
I'm like, this is too philosophical for me. Translated into dance set along to music by Tommy Khosla, the movements are beautiful. The piece opened with a solo before he was joined by four other dancers. The five dancers moved with intent, and a deliberate absence of touch. Are we alone, or are we with people? Or we are all alone at the end of the day?
One could interpret in whichever way, I guess. To view it as a dance mirroring our lives and how those unfold, or which ideals we hold dear in a time of crisis, and look back on these if we do get to an older age of say, 85. But I didn't think too much into it. I simply admired the form of the dancers.
No comments:
Post a Comment