Comments on TIME AND SPACE: Alain Platel’s mapping of “anotherness” in Out of ...

I was only able to see it once... bummer. I wish t...

2010-10-17T18:45:39.016-04:00

I was only able to see it once... bummer. I wish to have gone back again if only to jump up on stage and dance with the guy at the end.

The piece was a bit of a creeper - indifferent in the beginning and then somewhere in the middle I found myself getting attached to the individual performances.

I love feeling like your getting to know a dancer. Too often they are used like

"Who wants to dance with me?", the dance...

2010-10-16T17:45:26.815-04:00

"Who wants to dance with me?", the dancer (Romeu Runa) asked me from the stage. I was seated in dark in the front row of a balcony. He was dressed only in his underwear––– I was fully clothed. He appeared spent; which I understood after experiencing the last eighty minutes of his performance along with the eight others in the piece. The work was personal and unsparing on every level.

(posting part 3) I realize I am harping on the ov...

2010-10-16T10:09:21.551-04:00

(posting part 3)

I realize I am harping on the over-arching structure of the piece, and paying little heed to the minutiae of the work. And granted, Out of Context—For Pina relies heavily on detailed and intricate choreography, particularly in its opening scenes. This is my own bias, as I tend toward wanting to see/understand the greater picture (in life and art). Perhaps this

After speaking individually to one of the dancers ...

2010-10-16T10:08:52.708-04:00

After speaking individually to one of the dancers following the show, I was given insight into the process of building the entire shape of the piece. He described how each scene was given its due process; he described the rigorous working-through of each dancer's offer as though it were a student defending their thesis. This is fascinating. And means each scene has a backbone: it is sturdy in

(posting part 2) After speaking individually to on...

2010-10-16T10:08:24.352-04:00

(posting part 2)
After speaking individually to one of the dancers following the show, I was given insight into the process of building the entire shape of the piece. He described how each scene was given its due process; he described the rigorous working-through of each dancer's offer as though it were a student defending their thesis. This is fascinating. And means each scene has a

I seem to be re-stating a theme here, but the piec...

2010-10-16T10:07:53.078-04:00

I seem to be re-stating a theme here, but the piece fully-engaged me when the beat came in, and the frenetic microphone call-and-response scenario began. I hesitate to chalk this up to the seductive, pied-piper-esque quality of a driving beat, but still there is no denying that a steady and insistent rhythm demands you follow it.

Before this section (the introductory scenes), the

I also had the chance to see the piece twice and l...

2010-10-15T23:18:32.444-04:00

I also had the chance to see the piece twice and like Jonathan, they were profoundly different experiences. On opening night I watched from the balcony and felt a disconnection between the dancers and myself. The wall between us was just too great for me to be affected by the dancer’s vulnerability. This piece needed the intimacy of closeness; when I watched it the second time from the orchestra,

I saw this piece twice, and the first time I didn&...

2010-10-15T18:26:42.474-04:00

I saw this piece twice, and the first time I didn't care for it. My trouble with seeing dance pieces sometimes is I keep waiting for it to start, for something to happen. Then the second time, I realise, no it is happening. All the time. All around me.
I love that the dancers started in the audience, then getting up on stage, stripping away the daily, the costumes we wear, and getting

I really appreciate your framing for the show Ofel...

2010-10-15T09:52:47.279-04:00

I really appreciate your framing for the show Ofelia. A-B-A is exactly how I would describe it. I would also describe it as rising and falling action like any good piece of fiction, which is surprising to me because I did not expect to see this work follow what appeared to be a linear structure. It seemed chaotic at times, or to use Alain's word, hysteric. In all of the hysteria it was great

Loved, loved the emotional & physical range in...

2010-10-14T18:15:30.898-04:00

Loved, loved the emotional & physical range in what i saw. The herd-like, infantile, hysterical and nostalgic compacted into a thrilling 85 minutes.

I was following the intricate microphone-play parts so hard that i could almost taste the fader/slider movement of the mixing board.

I was lucky to watch this performance at Harbourfr...

2010-10-14T16:09:12.852-04:00

I was lucky to watch this performance at Harbourfront Centre last night. I had heard great things about it and therefore expected it to be great, and it was, but it wasn't always easy to digest. Loosely divided into A B A form, the performance started very excitedly with every single one of the dancers taking most of their clothes off. Only thing better than that, would be to watch those