Pascal Rambert’s A micro(history) of world economics, danced tried to combine many elements of theater and dance together in a unique and sometimes abstract conglomeration. However, it lacked much cohesion and felt quite disjointed at most times. Additionally, the immense amount of activity during some stages was extremely jarring and often distracting. The acting and musical talent in this piece could not carry what ultimately, was not dance, but display of poorly glued parts that fell apart.
With a title like A micro(history) of world economics, danced, one would think that dance would be the strongest suit in this performance. However, if anything, it tore the weak strings struggling to keep everything in one piece. Whenever dance was featured, which was quite rare to begin with, it seemed thrust into a scene that really did not welcome it. This was common during the lectures of Eric Mechoulan. The juxtaposition of his speaking and the dancing did not meld well because I would often accidentally drown out what he was saying because I was focusing on someone’s dancing. That eventually led to confusion once I switched my attention back to the speaker. This happened frequently.
The music and acting, although not the focal point of the show, did very well in relation to the other elements. The harmonious chorus and humorous acting kept me very interested in between the lectures. Both kept me interested when the disjointedness of the performance lost my attention. The chorus sounded very beautiful and the background music did well to communicate the overall atmosphere of the scene. The acting was my favorite element. It combined a unique use of props with expert line delivery and use of facial expressions to make very humorous and ultimately educational scenes in history. The use of fake moustaches whenever the female actors were playing males were very entertaining and their placement was a simple but effective choice. With music and acting as the performance’s strengths, it’s a wonder why the title chose to emphasize the dance segment.
Although Rambert’s A (micro)history of world economics, danced had it’s strengths and faults, the ultimate weakness was its lack of cohesion. With a poorly connected clump of theatric, musical and dance elements, this show was doomed to fail. The concept of this performance made me very interested and curious as to what the show would bring, but if the “dance” did not have much dance, I fail to see what it wanted to accomplish.
-Stanley Chen (Blog A)
In his post, Stanley discusses the lack of cohesion in Pascal Rambert’s A (micro) history of world economics, danced. While this was something that I too noticed, I feel that this sense of disconnect may have been intentional. For example, the constant back-and-forth between the scenes with Mr. Crumpet and the lectures by Éric Méchoulan (during which the plethora of dancers did their individual performances) seemed juxtapose the past with the present. While initially I was at a loss at understanding how the pieces fit together, I realized that by continuing to switch back and forth between the present and the past, perhaps Rambert was illustrating how the concept of economics has evolved.
The acting and musical aspects of the performance were also elements I felt were most strongly displayed. Stanley mentions that these elements, however, “could not carry what ultimately, was not dance”. While I too felt that this performance was more a theatrical feat than a dance performance, perhaps we must look beyond what our understanding of what dance is. While one definition on Merriam Webster defines dance as “to move your body in a way that goes with the rhythm and style of music that is being played,” another says that dance is simply “to perform”. Perhaps this was simply performing Rambert’s views on economics.
My first impression of this performance was that it was more of a theatrical production than a dance. While there did seem to be rhythm that at times aligned with the music played, I felt that the performance could be better appreciated as a theatrical feat form of modern visual art. The common thread of economics that tied all the diverse dancers together was something I felt sent a message about humanity. Thus, while it may not have been a clear demonstration of dance, it could be appreciated as a contribution to the discussion of the interdependence of individuals and the common threads we all share through this system of reliance.
At one point, as the lecturer, Éric Méchoulan lectured the three women who were acting as a father, mother and son whose house was just foreclosed, the family of three began to fall asleep, emphasizing a sense of indifference and boredom. I felt that one clear message from the performance was that there is a disconnect between the masses and the jargon of economics.
I felt a sense of disconnect beyond Méchoulan’s lectures as well. Although the artist is himself French, I felt that the overwhelming presence of the French language did not accurately align with the title, which was A (micro) history of world economics. The lecturer and three women who led the performance all spoke with thick French accents. In addition, all the intellectuals referred to were Western: Adam Smith, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Mr. Lloyd. I felt that the diversity of the dancers was still overshadowed by this overarching dominance of western culture.