WHAT THE FUCK. Probably the most used phrase in the first half of the performance. It was definitely my reaction afterwards too.
The beginning was interesting… Upon first seeing the screen and the man sitting there on stage reading to us, I was shocked. I thought it was supposed to be a dance performance. The film on screen was confusing, but at the same time made a lot of sense. It told the story of growth and despair, of loss and grief. Walter, Ralph Lemon’s teacher, at age 102, was still teaching him important life lessons. Much of the film was about the loss of loved ones, and the hardships of dealing with such losses. I honestly feel that the film had more importance than the actual dancing did. The words, the way he spoke, everything about the first half was just so enrapturing that it was unforgettable.
“A storm is blowing in from Paradise…This storm is what we call progress.” The storm represents grief and the depression after the death of a loved one. When Asoko dies, leaving Ralph on his own, the storm comes and takes over when his Paradise disappears. This misery helps him progress past the death of his true love. In the end, he is finally able to come to terms with the illness that took her away. As he says, “the struggle itself…is enough to fill a man’s heart.” With depression, there is no room for any other emotion. The “ conundrum is unsolvable”- there is no way to get past the loss, because death is forever.
“Oh, and there’s some kind of wall in this part, a virtual wall, dividing it from the other parts, a wall that I have to somehow put a hole through. A fairy tale with a menagerie or a hare in the moon story.” The wall represents the grief, the hole is the escape route. He needs to tunnel a hole through the wall in order to escape the feelings of loneliness and isolation after losing the one person who meant the world to him.
Now, the dance. Ugh. I don’t even know what to say. When I was sitting there in the theater, as the time slowly ticked by, I was forced to watch these people throwing themselves on the floor like two year olds who don’t get their way. As I watched, I had a strong feeling that it was sexual. The way their bodies moved and interacted, and the way they rolled around on top of each other made it feel as though they were about to have a giant orgy on stage. It was strange and awkward, but it was daunting and suspenseful. No one had any idea what to expect. But really, it was completely anti-climactic. They just continued to throw themselves around. As Lemon points out, “What you see is what you see.” Some people might have seen the deeper meaning in this “dance,” but I didn’t.
When the guest speaker came in and tried to explain what the performance was about and why things were such, I tried to make more sense of it, but I couldn’t. Much of what she said about Lemon was contradictory. She said that Lemon believes in the question rather than the answer, but at the end of the performance, the man says, “yes,” in answer to the many questions posed throughout. Will life go on- yes. Is this what happens after a loss- yes. Can you stay in the house all day and do nothing- yes. Can living people endure the physical exhaustion of their bodies- yes. YES YES YES! The answer to every question is yes!
There’s no rhyme or reason to this performance. The film itself would have been sufficient to show Lemon’s point, the dance was just excessive…completely unnecessary and a waste of time. And the animals at the end? What the hell was that about? It just didn’t go together. Lemon probably had some great ideas, but he tried to squash them all into one single performance which belittled any good in it that there could have been. Maybe separately, the storylines would have made better pieces and been more enjoyable to the audience, but this was definitely nowhere near enjoyable.
