Dear All,
Below is a link to a review for Yesterday by Jasmin Vardimon which we all watched last night. Please read it first and then attempt to follow the questions below aimed at generating thoughts about the work itself.
The Guardian Review : www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/sep/14/dance
1. How did the work challenge your understanding of physical theatre?
2. How did the issues raised in the piece challenge you as an individual?
3. What made it feel like a dance piece and what transformed it into physical theatre?
I look forward to your responses.
Royona
Bahok, Akram Khan Dance Company
Exploring Liminality
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
First of all I would like to say well done to everyone yesterday for the session and a big thanks to Paul and Royona for helping a lot of the group when struggling with the task at hand.
"Yesterday" challenged my understanding of physical theatre because we interpret the show in many different ways and forms.
The production was very well crafted and made each member think of something which could have related to them rather than trying to understand what Jasmin wanted to portray. The piece for me was challenging because when the man was using her against the map of the country a number of audience members were laughing, for me this was not something that I found funny because I viewed the scene as someone had just been abused and was thinking life did not have a meaning at that particular time.
As said above the piece raised issues which are apparent in every day life such as disease, tragedy, homosexuality, ruling and conflict. These were not challenging but made me think about the way we act to people and why we act in such manner rather than the way we do not act around people. Although I said things were not challenging in a way I guess they were because it did challenge my views on certain aspects of life.
Physical Theatre/Dance Theatre?
This was a question asked by an audience member and Jasmin replied you tell me...
For me it felt like a piece of physical theatre and dance theatre because the dances, movements and music all had meaning behind them. Don't get me wrong in saying a dance does not have any meaning behind it because it does. Everything that we do has a meaning and a reason why we do it.
I would like to class this as physical theatre but when telling people what i went to see I said a show of a dance genre because it was easier for people to understand rather than saying a physical theatre show.
The piece transformed for me when the woman drew a map on her body which described a journey through her life and the way the performers moved within the space of the stage. Although it was very tightly choreographed it managed to tell a very deep story which kept me fully engaged at all times.
Firstly I would like to say what an amazing performance. To have the opportunity to watch ‘Yesterday’ has really opened my eyes to what could actually be achieved with immense practice. Also, to watch a performance of this genre outside of the context of university is also an experience in itself, to be able to experience the knowledge, and skill driven expertise of Jasmine Vardimon was also pleasurable.
Watching the performance at the time, didn’t really challenge my thoughts on physical theatre. I was just taking it all in, all the different emotions I felt watching it. I didn’t really want to label it as physical theatre and try and analyse it. It wasn’t until the after show discussion that I started to explore and unpick what these emotions and feelings actually meant to me.
‘Yesterday’ is a political driven performance, exposing the political and social infrastructure of this country in particular, the scene where ‘Burrough … bursts on to the stage with a megaphone. “I believe that a man should not dance in public,” he bellows, introducing a manic display of National Front-style flag-waving’ (Jennings. L, 2008) This scene I found the most captivating because in a comical format, both Vardimon and Burrough were able to express the naiveity but also the ignorance of some people in this country. By making it comical, allowed the audience to laugh at the hypocrasy of Burrough’s character, but when you actually take that second to actually think about what he is saying, and not just laughing at the fact that he is contradicting himself, it is actually quite painful to think that even though we live in a country with so much cultural diversity, these thoughts are actually still quite strong to some people.‘Vardimon has a clear political … agenda but a deft theatrical touch softens the agitprop edges.’ (Jennings. L, 2008)
The aethetic beauty of the scene where the performers dance in the bed of feathers, to me makes ‘Yesterday’ seem like a dance piece. With the synchronisation and rhythm, it was very pleasing to watch. It was more dance-like than the opening scene where a woman was standing on the feet of a male performer, with the other performers entered the space and moved across the stage, in an eccentric manner. If you look up Dance Theatre, there isn’t a clear definition as to what this is, but if you look you Physical Theatre; Dance Theatre is labeled under this category. I would call it Physical Dance Theatre: A Performance.
JENNINGS. L, (2008) Consuming love, and a killer virus [WWW] The Observer, Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/sep/14/dance [Accsessed 11th September 2008
First and foremost I would like to say how much I enjoyed Yesterday. That’s the first piece of physical theatre/dance that has actually made me sit back and think wow. The talent that each individual had was truly amazing and watching it made me think that, that’s how I would hope for our piece to turn out. A bit of a far fetched idea I know but the piece it self had such an impact on how I feel about our end product.
Personally Yesterday didn’t really challenge my thoughts on physical theatre. Because the genre itself is so difficult to pin point and actually put a finger on what it actually is, every piece of “Physical theatre” that I see will have a completely different meaning and understanding to the next. So with yesterday I didn’t really allow it to challenge my thoughts, I was so wrapped up in the moment that I didn’t allow the time to actually think about what had gone into the production of the piece.
This may be really wrong for me to say but as a person I rarely discuss or think about what’s going on in the world. Wrong I know but it’s just something that doesn’t really interest me. But when watching Yesterday because the themes were entangled within the piece I sat up and took notice. It made me realise that if you have got a problem with what’s going on around you, then why not stand up and say how you feel. I suppose the reason that I don’t really take into account what’s going around me is because I believe that everyone is there own person and should be entitled to feel, believe etc how they want to. Yesterday managed to discuss problems within the world that are often shut away, and personally now I feel that maybe I should take into consideration what’s going on around me.
The only time I felt Yesterday was a dance was down to the choreography, it was so precise and all the members of the company were in tune with each other therefore for me that aspect made me look at it as a dance. But on the other hand the actual choreography in my eyes was more leaning towards the physical theatre genre, it was more of I’m going to do this because it feels right and not I’m going to do this because it will look aesthetically pleasing to the audience.
The performance made me question the boundaries between physical theatre and dance. I think my understanding was that physical theatre used body gesture and movement to convey something to the audience. I have been learning over the past few weeks that in fact, the audience simply read what they want to in any performance. This piece had aspects that seemed quite like a dance performance would. The performers were extraordinary and some were clearly trained dancers. 'Yesterday' challenged my understanding of physical theatre in that it made me re-consider what I believed physical theatre to be. However I don't consider this a bad thing. For me, the whole purpose of physical theatre is that there are no limitations. A dance performance could easily be described as physical theatre and vice versa.
The issues raised in the piece challenged me in quite a provocative way. I have always questioned what it is to be 'British' and why some people are quite patriotic when considering what I know from history, the British haven't always been something to be proud of. Today's BNP is something I most definitely am not proud to class as British and Burroughs National Front is similar in many ways. Fascism as a focal point of society and the political infrastructure. Issues of gender, sexuality, social status as well as social ignorance to everyday occurences, such as abuse and War, are not era-dependent and have always and more than likely will always be part of our world. As an individual, this challenged me as it made me query what i can do to make things change. It also made me wonder that if I had the opportunity, would I do anything to change things?
I think the choreography sometimes made it feel like a dance piece. The synchronised movements and the performers ability to manipulate their bodies made me feel as though I were watching a dance. However, the fact that the performance wasn't linear in structure and that the piece didn't have a clear beginning, middle and end in conjunction with the perfomers complicite made it seem more like a physical theatre piece. As I mentioned before I think it could be perceived as either dance or physical theatre dependent on the audience.
Michaela
The issue of segregation made me feel uneasy.
1. I would just like to take this chance to say how much I enjoyed this performance, and I would definatly go and see her work again.
For me this production epitomised the genre of physical theatre as the performance was everything i expected of a physical theatre show but much better. I do not think this worked challenged my idea of physical theatre, i was just in awe of the work, and the possible outcomes that come with practice. Obviously this works has took years to produce, but the thought of being able to do a fraction of this work is really exiting.
2) I did take on board the issues that were raised in the piece. But I am going to be honest i was more concerned with watching the actual movement, and how the movement portrayed the issues, not the issues themselves. I think because it was a collaberation of her work, was not looking at any narrative I just appreciated the individual pieces for what they were. It was physical movement that challenged me more than the issues as it interested me more than i ever thought, and it inspired me to want to achieve as much as I could in this subject.
3)What struck me about the piece was how exactly in time they all were with each other. The movement varied and you could see the elements of dance coming through in some of the more choreographed movement as opposed to the direction of the physical theatre. But for me i would define the work as physical theatre as all the movent has a reason and purpose, and the movement always communicated something to the audience. And as bad as it may sound i find it hard to anaylse a piece like that as I just enjoyed and appreciated the piece without braking it down and analysing it, I just enjoyed it for what it was.
Sorry if these answers are not what is expected of us , as i said before I found it hard to brake down and analyse, as i just enjoyed it for what it was.
I have to admit I haven’t really seen a lot of physical theatre work and so only knew what it was like from pieces I have seen on YouTube and from the 2nd year piece last year. This meant I did not have much of a idea about it but now after watching yesterday I feel much more confident in my understanding of how physically demanding and how there is meaning behind the movements that are being done ad there not just being done for the sake of it.
As the piece was a combination of a lot of different productions it means there was not one narrative, however it did mean there were a lot of issues that could be tackled at once. For instance the patriotic ness of the man waving the flag was quite exaggerated but made me also think about how that exists in reality not just on stage, as in whenever England play at football and people become violent.
The music and rhythm made it more like a dance but then some of the slower parts made it more theatrical. As well as this the speaking made it more theatrical as they would not have it in a dance piece.
Gina's Comments:
1. “Yesterday” was a truly inspiring piece of work! To be studying physical theatre and to have the opportunity to see a play like this was so useful! I have always thought that the line between physical theatre and dance is such a fine one. Sometimes I wish people would allow actors and dancers to create movements without them having to label it, or defend their decisions. Jasmin Vardimon said herself in reply to the question about if she saw it as physical theatre or dance: “You tell me the difference.” So, I want my answer to this question to be no, because I (like Jasmin Vardimon) don’t think there is much of a difference.
Most parts of her play resembled both to me, and I would not want to label it! However, realistically, there was physical theatre in these moments and they were clearly defined. E.g. the fighting that happened and moments like after the fire. There were moments of stillness and balance that I would class as physical theatre. It still did not change my understanding of physical theatre, though- it just made me more aware how fine that line is.
2. I think the issues raised in the play really did affect people as individuals. I love the way Vardimon says the play was not supposed to have a structure-it was all her memories, presented how memories appear; a series of random flashbacks and memories that affected us all at one point. Issues like ‘men should not dance’, romance (like the flirtation between the male and female) and the scene where the house burns are all issues from reality. Many people feel they have to conform to society at some point in life (like men feeling they cannot dance for instance). Many people encounter romance and flirtation such as this, except Vardimon brings this to the surface and makes you watch what it looks like. Many people have lost something (such as the house) and sometimes that can bring two people closer together from that common loss.
3. This piece really resembled dance for me. With the combination of dance-like movements, the music and the repetition (just like motifs used in dance), it became a dance before your eyes. However, there were times when I was watching the piece as physical theatre-only because of things like jumps and balances that were used like in Fractal for example. It did transform from one to the other and back again for me, but a lot of the time I wanted to forget which one was which, and just enjoy the movements and the meaning behind them.
I really enjoyed YESTERDAY. I believe it was a grreat performance of a theatre style I love so much, physical theatre.
1. I dont beleive the piece really challenged me on a physical theatre level as I am such a fan of the type of theatre anyway. Although, some of the actually 'moves' done on stage be the performers did make me gasp many a time and challenged my mind thinking how they could be executed by myself.
2. Many of the issues raised in the peice didnt actually challenge me as an individual as many of the issues were quite 'fuzzy' meaning not always put across to the audience in a direct way. I was more concerned on thw actions and how I perseived them individually, not acutally trying to understand there issues.
3. I dont beleive that the piece was acutally 'transformed' into a physical theatre piece from a dance peice. I beleive from the begining that it was a physical theatre piece with stong elements of dance, especially with the dance in unison.
1. Admiring ‘Yesterday’ of course challenged my understanding of physical theatre. It effaces the border between dance and physical performance. Maybe it is a cliché but earlier this frontier was quite obvious to me – physical theatre presented much more expression and emotion than the dance theatre which I mainly associated with choreographies. Nevertheless watching performances of these genres make me analyze and understand (in my own way) different, new aspects like that there is no dance, no motion, no gesture without emotion and expression. ‘Yesterday’ was striking with images full of passion, extreme feelings served in physical/dance form which could be impossible to separate not breaking the idea of the performance. The show challenges us and makes it even more difficult to understand or distinguish what is dance and what is purely physical. Is it even possible to split these forms? Jasmin asked about this issue, gave, I think, the most accurate answer – ‘You tell me!’ For me ‘Yesterday’ was the specific, holistic form of painting of emotions created by incredible physicality (perfectly trained body memory) which could not be divided into single, specific parts or classified in any, sometimes artificial, divisions (dance vs. physical).
2. As with all physical/dance productions they make you constantly analyze and think of onstage happenings. What challenged me this time was the trial to focus on emotions assigned to the bodies. The Process & Performance’s sessions made us aware of a lot more issues which appeared in my mind during the show. For example I was taking note of the physical technique of performers, analyzing them not as whole bodies/characters (as I used to do before) but focusing as well on the motions of the single, specific limbs and other body parts. Now I am certain that there are deep emotions, impulses of feelings in an every single alley of the body. What challenged me and made me think in the plot area of the play, was human contacts, eternal, personal stories. For me the scene with the marker leaving trails on the body was a really powerful one.
3. As I stated above, recently it has been quite difficult for me to distinguish between dance and physical theatre. Certainly choreography is the key element of the dance performance and what transformed it in ‘Yesterday’ into the physical piece was putting all the motions in the male-female relationships, life stories, political provocations, all decorated with massive energy of emotions and feelings carrying away the bodies of performers.
Post a Comment