The Arts in New York City
After watching “I Don’t Believe in Outer Space,” it took me a while to register what I had just seen. I did know that there were duct tape balls all over the floor, that dancers moved around haphazardly across the stage, and that the “music” jumped at the quietest moments, nearly scaring me out of my seat. What I still don’t know is whether there is any real theme to this “ballet” show. I’ll do my best to analyze what happened throughout the performance, although I’m sure that’s not the point of the production.
While dancers in “I Don’t Believe in Outer Space” don’t use graceful, flowing, or technically difficult techniques, movement is the key motif of the show. There are no leaping, twirling figures, or feats of athletic strength. Rather, a series of stereotypical characters is acted out in very exaggerated form, giving distinct moments of clarity in an otherwise confusing show. I specifically remember the main female dancer switching between two very definite personas: the angular, praying mantis-like neighbor with a voice horror movie villains would be proud to have, and the prim, uptight, hand-wringing suburban wife.
In one of the pieces that particularly stood out, a female voice describes how movements come together, “suddenly, as if by chance.” Throughout her narration, many dancers move, writhe, clash together and vibrate apart, weaving between the many balls of duct tape strewn across the stage.
Throughout such strange sequences, random characters speak the lyrics of “I Will Survive,” occasionally eliciting awkward laughter from the audience.
The end is surprisingly poignant, as an older woman examines the form of a younger dancer, bemoaning physical movements that can no longer be done. If there was anything that I got from this strange performance, it was that movement tells a story, if a very convoluted one. Most of the time, I just tried to figure out what the heck was going on onstage.
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I had the same sentiments about “I Don’t Believe in Outer Space”. Due to the oddity of the performance, right from the beginning, I had a hard time trying to understand the performance and put the individual scenes together. Even now, although the performance was a while ago, I can only speculate about the main point. Whenever I think back, the memory is still filled with confusion. I also noticed that this ballet performance was a deviation from the traditional ballet moves that we are used to seeing. I was expecting them to twirl or at least spin around but instead they focus more on moving their body, such as arms or legs, in sharp movements. This misconception about their ballet style was cleared up early in the performance. After all, it started out with two males dancing with one another instead of a male and female. One of them even stuffed one of the duct tape balls in their pants. But despite that, it’s clear that each individual dancer was adept at dancing. The moves of each dancer were clear, accurate and defined, something that requires a lot of practice. In all, this was definitely a unique performance. Unlike the performances or shows that we are used to seeing, it didn’t have a definite plot or storyline to follow. Instead, we were left trying to piece together each individual scene by ourselves. It required the audience to put more thought into the performance than we are used to. It also forces us to be more attentive because there were so many events occurring at the same time.