Some Thoughts On “Political Mother”

As difficult as it was to find the venue for “Political Mother,” the dance itself was even more difficult to interpret. “Political Mother, “created by Hofesh Shechter, could be understood in a multitude of different ways, from a hundred different perspectives. That is, I guess, what is so bewitching about dance. As opposed to a film or an opera, there is no clear-cut interpretation of this particular form of art, and one can perceive a dance in any way one wishes. Although “Political Mother” is as open to interpretation as any other dance, I’d like to suggest an interpretation that, for me, was able to cut through some of the ambiguity.

Sitting in the nosebleed seats, looking out into a theater hugged by a thin, transparent layer of fog, the dancers seemed a world away. As my mind wandered, I began to attempt at making connections between what was happening onstage and the title of the performance. The ranting dictator that yelled incoherently at the top of his lungs was frighteningly reminiscent of Hitler and the lights lining either side of the stage were eerily similar to the spotlights used to keep guard in concentration camps throughout Europe. A few scenes had 5 or 6 shabbily dressed dancers parading themselves in front of mostly still performers, dressed in the dark-green uniform of a Nazi officer and much of the music, aside from the electric guitar, reminded me of the Jewish songs played in every Holocaust movie I’ve ever seen. And that is exactly what I thought “Political Mother” was commenting on, the Holocaust; a political event (if it can be called that) which correlated with the events on stage. It seemed to me that the performance was a commentary on how the chaos following World War I and the dissemination of anti-Semitic propaganda throughout Germany led to the unspeakable tragedy that was the murder of 6 million Jews. In addition, the background of the dance’s creator supports this. Hofesh Shechter was born in Jerusalem in 1975. He is Jewish and has previously made Jewish-themed works such as “The Fools,” which is highly suggestive of Jewish life in the shtetl (the towns Jews were forced to live in during 19^th century Russia), and “Ten Plagues,” which is self-explanatory.

Aside from this understanding of the dance, which kept running through my head over and over, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I know this sounds self-absorbed, but here are some of my thoughts:

Even though not being able to see the faces of the dancers bothered me at first, I soon realized how irrelevant their faces were in comparison with their movements.

After the first act, which concluded with the corpse of a suicidal samurai laying prone on the stage, and left me thoroughly confused, the performance only improved. I thought it was funny how after the samurai stabbed himself in the stomach, the only thought I had was, “Oh no, not another ‘Spellbeamed.’”

Often, I marveled at the ridiculous body control of the dancers. They switched seamlessly from harsh, tense movements to languid motions that made it seem as if they were gliding. I never thought movements like those were possible.

“Political Mother” lent me a short-lived appreciation for silence. After sitting through the blaring of an extremely loud, though well-played, electric guitar for about an hour and a half, once the dance ended, I couldn’t help but enjoy the silence that followed.