After having greatly enjoyed Kyle deCamp’s Urban Renewal, I had high hopes for Anne Teresa deKeersmaeker’s Cesena; however, I left the BAM theatre in disappointment. The tickets were, in my opinion, not even worth $5, let alone the $20 we paid for them. To support my point of view, I would like to call attention to the fact that people, who willingly paid $32 (and more) per ticket to see the show, were getting up and leaving in droves — something I had never seen at a performance before.
The first third of the performance, which I could barely see, was not impressive in the least. From opening with a man screaming words in a foreign language to ending with a group of people coming out from the shadows arm-in-arm, I didn’t really get the point of the entire scene. (Around the end of the first third, a brave woman, whom I applauded, in the audience spoke out against the injustice of charging people $32 a ticket and having them not be able to see the performance.)
The second third, which I could actually see, was much better, compared to the first, with wild movements and a more active performance. the dancers seemed to come alive at this point, making the experience of watching it much more entertaining.
The final third of the performance was, in my opinion, the best part because I could clearly see everything on the stage and because the dancers were wide-awake and, as it seemed, more comfortable in their movements. The only thing I didn’t like about the stage’s being so bright was the lackluster stage, which was undecorated.
The things I like the most in Cesena were deKeersmaeker’s use of the stage, of a theme, and of lighting. With a huge white chalk circle in the center of the stage, I was reminded of an African tribal ritual, and with the hymns the dancers were singing as they performed, I was reminded of sitting at Church every Sunday. I feel like deKeersmaeker deliberately used the circle and the experience at night to create a religious theme, in which the context of the performance took place. Although I was annoyed at first that I could barely see what was happening on stage, I realize now that deKeersmaeker deliberately started the performance in pitch blackness so that she could slowly increase the intensity of the light throughout the performance, creating the illusion of night turning into day.
Overall, I do have to say that I did not enjoy deKeersmaeker’s Cesena; however, the performance, in the least, did has some ups that were somewhat enjoyable and entertaining.
-John Wetmore (Blog A)
The performance that we saw by was exactly the type of performance that I was expecting to see. While it was a little bit lengthy and even for me, a person who likes dance, a bit too much for me to watch in one setting I did like the piece as a whole even though much of it I didn’t understand. The show began with a man doing what seemed to be part of a soul cleansing ritual where he screamed and let his breath cause him to contract and expand several times, then after running around a chalk circle he disappears into the darkness.
My opinion about the dark stage was very conflicted. In the beginning I was frustrated as were many of the audience members but as I came to the conclusion that I just wasn’t going to see all that I had wanted to and stopped trying so hard it became interesting to watch as the dancers fell in and out of the darkness. Their black clothes would create the illusion that it was just body parts flailing around by themselves and just as quickly as you saw them they would fade away. This along with the music, which the dancers shockingly, contributed themselves while performing, was very soothing to me. It did as my classmate mentions remind me of some sort of ritual but it didn’t seem to be one based on conflict but rather a peaceful ritual based on the individual people of the “tribe”, group of dancers.
As the lights were rudely beckoned to come on I could see more of the dancer’s movements but in my pinion they were so minimal that they looked better in the dark. I liked the movements but I feel that for the length of the performance such a stark minimum was just not my preference. There were some beautiful moments however, where the dancers would flow from solo movement to moving in unison with one another and it was amazing to see how well they felt each other to be able to do that. Towards the end of the performance the pace rose a little but then the piece ended in what I felt was a very abrupt way.
In my opinion, I think that the show was a great performance. I did not by any means like every part of it but I think that when coming to see experimental dance the type of performance we saw was what you should expect to see. If I was a fan of experimental dance I would’ve gladly paid to see that performance and I don’t see why anyone who wasn’t would even consider going to see it if they didn’t like the type of dance and they weren’t prepared to take everything in with an open mind. Dance is supposed to be an expression of yourself just like any art form and I think that because it is something that you can see in person people begin to think that the dance was made solely for their enjoyment. Art is not something you can selfishly make just about you, its something you take from an artist and appreciate because that is what they chose to share with you whether you like it or not.
-Yasmin Jones