As a man stood in the almost complete darkness, squatting down and singing in a shrill, high- pitched voice, I was admittedly confused and unsure what to make of what I was seeing. Soon after this, he began running around the stage and it became visible that he was completely naked. I was very taken aback by this entrance. However, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s performance went on to be a graceful display of dance that utilized motion, sound, and lighting in a way that I found to be fascinating.
One of the motions that seemed to be continually used throughout the performance was running or scampering across the stage, often from under the light into the darkness. I found it interesting how when one dancer would run across the stage, it seemed to impact every other dancer and they would all begin to scamper about as well. The way the dancers moved often appeared to have an influence on what the others would do and it was beautiful to observe how all of their movements came together. Another pattern that I noticed within the dancer’s motions was a lot of going down to the floor and, more specifically, sliding on the floor. It was evident that they were sliding often by how distorted the chalk circle on the stage was by the end of the performance. Because all of their movements were centered around the circle, the dancers were often sliding across its lines and smearing chalk wherever they moved.
The sounds that could be heard while watching Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s also contributed incredibly to the show. A lot of these sounds went hand in hand with the motions of the dancers. During the first part of the show, the stage was mostly enveloped by darkness and it was very difficult to see what the dancers were doing unless they were directly under the small light. It was very difficult to trust my own eyes and I often found myself listening to the noises the dancers made as they moved to figure out where they were on stage or what they were doing. The noises that they made as the slid across the floor or scampered around the stage became very important to try and follow what they were doing at all times. The other aspect of the sounds in this performance which was significant was the dancers’ singing. The music seemed to create a serene or graceful atmosphere and reminded me a lot of church music. This once again coincided nicely with the dancers’ movements, because whenever the music began, their movements appeared to become more graceful and elegant to reflect what the audience was hearing.
Finally, another influential part of the dance was the lighting, or lack thereof. The beginning part of the performance used only a small light in the front center of the stage, which made it difficult to see any dancers who were not in that exact position. It was also very difficult to make out any specific details about the dancers, such as what they looked like or their costumes. Although this was intentional, it was often very frustrating to not be able to see the dancers and I did not really enjoy the beginning of the performance because of this. I obviously was not the only person who held this opinion, as someone unexpectedly yelled out from the audience that they felt the same way. However, the next part of the show saw a gradual increase in the amount of light until the entire stage was illuminated. I found this to be much more enjoyable, as we were now able to observe all of the dancers, as well as their costumes and their movements.
Overall, I found Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s to be an enjoyable experience. The way in which motion, sound, and lighting all came together was truly captivating and impressive. Although I did not exactly understand the choices in the beginning to open with the naked man or use a mostly dark stage, the performance went on to display a lot more graceful and beautiful dancing, especially when the lights came on to illuminate the stage.
Brandon Fiscina (Blog B)
