July 1st, 2009: Abbey Bookshop anniversary

@St Séverin

That dance show was an early one, so I could make it to the garden of St Severin church for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Abbey Bookshop, a Canadian bookshop of which I’ve been a customer for many years. It’s almost my sole puveyor of books, and even if they don’t carry what I’m looking for, I usually scout the details on some online dealer’s site before ordering through them. It might be more expensive, but Brian has given me great advice along the years, and that’s worth shelling out a little more once in a while. Plus there’s usually some coffee hidden in the middle of the towering piles of book, and how many shop do this in Paris?

Anyway the celebration was shared with a Mexican restaurant named Mexi & Co, also around since 1989, but I’ve never been there. So there was Mexican food and some cinnamon and rice drink I liked a lot, a piñata and some latin music, in addition to the medieval theme more specifically brought by the bookshop people, including a guy doing colorful medieval calligraphy. They even got the use of the church’s organ for a short performance, the sound was great even though I’m not into that kind of music. There were a lot of people doing some medieval dances, and they looked like they were having a lot of fun; they’re probably part of a club, because many dressed the part. The music for that was by an ensemble called l’Escarboucle, and I thought they were great, playing until night fell and put a reluctant stop to the dancing. I don’t know anything about this kind of music, but that’s something I might want to fix, hence this reminder.

July 1st, 2009: Vincent Dunoyer – Sister

@abbesses

I only knew Vincent Dunoyer as a dancer, and that made me wary of the concept of this show being just too big for a first impression. That was right, unfortunately, in that I would often just get too focused on echoes of the many times I’ve seen Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker work. It was pretty obvious that some familiarity with his own stuff would have helped me see beyond that. So I’m quite sure I missed most of the point.

After a long video showing a dancer repeatedly trying to through a whole sequence, Vincent Dunoyer did a quite good long sequence in silence, going through a lot of familiar movements, but in a somewhat different way. That really brought home how much I was missing, but getting beyong the call of memories was a struggle I just lost.

When Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker herself replaced him, it was quite more of the same, probably more challenging for me, as her presence would only reinforce the memories. The repetition of these movements — video, Dunoyer, De Keersmaeker — did add something, and Dunoyer’s occasional coaching was probably more helpful to me than to her — and the audience was obviously its target. But I still can’t shake the feeling that I missed the point. I stand by my original fear, seeing it again wouldn’t be much better, I would need to see his own work first to have a shot at understanding this one. I just whiffed this time.

June 29th, 2009: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker — The Song

@théatre de la ville

Wow. I kinda know the drill by now, so I fully expected this show to give some keys into Zeitung, which I’ll be seeing again next season. But still, I’m in awe again. I should know better, it’s usually some sketches introduced in one show, then another one I can’t really relate to, then another one bringing the new direction to fruition, making me want to see the previous couple of shows again, just because I’m now better armed to see what it was about. I may be used to her work, but I’m nowhere near knowing where Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker is heading. The only thing that experience has given me is trust — no small thing in my book — that I’ll figure it out later on. Come to think of it, I’m often no better at making sense of my own act, I’m very often just as late in catching on with my own changes.

Credit were credit is due, even though I don’t what they contributed I have to name Ann Veronice Janssens and Michel François. She did, so I should, my lack of knowledge about exactly what they contributed is irrelevant — remember that trust thing. Had I to take a wild guess, I’d say the former had to do with lights, the latter with sound, but it scarcely matters as I liked both equally and I think I made it clear how little I know — corrections as to their input most welcome.

For a change, I did read about that show beforehand, again because I know whatever she chose to put out may be important. And those references to bird flights may have helped me getting into the early group moves, with dancers moving in and out of formation, as intricate as group moves can get with her, but somehow less formal. It was not my first impression though, because the play with light and darkness was enough, a single dancer coming on stage only to disappear soon as the lights were cut was introduction enough.

Going back to Zeitung, there were again a lot of stumbling-yet-mastered motions, a deliberate blurring of lines I already appreciate even though overstanding remains out of reach. But the most shocking development was the silence. No music most of the time, some Beatles songs performed by dancers at time, with a playful lack of dancing halfway through the one recorded song of the show — Helter Skelter — though that part went into blazing action suddenly yet without a real break in the feel of it, that’s how intense it all was. Silence isn’t exact, because one of them had a mic on and used it to fill that void with small sounds, be it a shoe stomping, ropes whistling through air or bare hands scraping the water covered floor. That was huge to me because De Keersmaeker’s ability to relate the choreography to music had been a big part of my appreciation for her work, and that made it clear it was not as big a part as I thought. In a sense, not having Cynthia Loemij dancing was a bit related, a disappointment and a robbing of a way in for me, but this show was so strong it didn’t matter in the end.

I was probably seated too close to the stage again, but this time I’m not complaining, because those close quarters probably made the intensity of it more immediate. And it was one of the most intense performances I remember; the relative silence actually helpful. I don’t know the names of the dancers, so I can’t credit him properly, but one of the bearded ones was especially amazing from that close, managing to be generous, focused and precise in mock awkwardness in a totally mind-blowing way. Another thing standing out was a group pattern having dancers come in and out into expanding squares, then that pattern was reversed. It did stand out for me because it brought to the fore the geometrical side of her work, bringing yet another dimension to the whole show.

OK, by now it should be clear I’m unable to give a remotely objective review of what went on, so I’m officially throwing in the towel. There are just too many echoes of things I went through in other fields. I assume no one but me will make sense of this, but this foray into silence reminds me of Wittgenstein’s so-called break from logic into language. I never could see that break, TLP and PI do feel totally consistent to me. Same thing here, there might be a break in some aspects, but what I most care about in Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s work carries on unchanged in this new phase — pun intended — and I’m like totally on board to see where this leads to. It might be a dead end for all I know, but the road is what matters to me, and it’s anything but complacent. I have no idea how any of this might be perceived by someone new to her work, but as far as I’m concerned it was huge. I feel just blessed having witnessed so much of her work, she’s been such a major influence for me on several levels. That’s putting it way too mildly, but putting into words what dance means to me is a hopeless endeavor, and I’m all too aware of that fact.

Just bring Cynthia Loemij back, pretty please?

June 28th, 2009: Elwis Presley Lieben Toten / Antilles / Damien Schultz / Mr Marcaille / Projet Piscine / aka_bondage

A pretty good start with a diverse set by aka_bondage. Sometimes close to noise, sometimes percussive, featuring loops, samples and his trademark stringed antlers. He used a bow when the latter was involved, and that might have been my favorite part — though the first one was real cool as well. I know he’s been around for a while, but I had only heard him as part of a bigger project not that long ago, so that was a nice discovery for me.

Back when I first heard Projet Piscine, I was surprised at my liking them despite a eightiesish sound. I don’t whether they evolved or I just paid more attention, but except for a very Cureish bass sound during one song, it’s really not that dated. I was actually more thinking about mid-nineties Sonic Youth during their set, for some reason that isn’t all that clear to me. It definitely has something to do with the singer’s inflections at times. Anyway, it’s not a big deal because whatever influences showed up, those were integrated into something definitely theirs and current. And though they do have a rather consistent sound, their songs are not alike, that kept me interested throughout. I went to my original post about them and read that I wondered whether they were good or I was in a good mood. This time my mood was sour and I their set was my favorite anyway, so that pretty much settles it. In between I had heard them once for a very short set, botched in a way but that I liked a lot because it was rougher. Another promising thing about them is that people who have told me about them don’t agree much on what they like about them; I take that to mean I still missed a lot and will hear new things the next time.

Mr Marcaille brough something totally different, basically playing metal on cello. Throw in some serious feedback and drum kicks, and it was indeed metal, the cello bringing a different touch but not straying into some ironic fusion at all. As is often the case with metal, I did enjoy it at first, but kinda lost interest toward the end. A bit too much of the same thing, that’s all. But cool enough for a while.

Damien Schultz is always challenging for me, because I don’t like words, so I have a hard time getting into spoken word acts. I just tend to block out the words and focus on the flow. He’s suitably relentless and rather on the fast side, which help. Not my favorite performance of his, but not a poor one either.

I was quite impressed by Antilles. I had last seen them two years ago, but hadn’t quite got it at the time. Erik Minkkinen was just as creative as usual, this time his guitar was flat on a table and he started by playing a beat that was close in role to bass even though the effects made it sound more synth-like. Again, I really liked what Lionel Fernandez did, I once thought he was too loud and assertive, but I’ve changed my mind in the past year or so. He’s probably both, but the difference is I get it now. The drummer was a big part of why I liked this set, in that he not just grounding the thing but really had an equal part. The whole had an almost trance like quality, especially the encore, driven with a rich sound with featured clear sounds and a dense texture.

Elwis Presley Lieben Toten saw their set impaired by technical difficulties and cut short by curfew. Laptop, guitar, megaphone and power tools for an electro-punk hybrid that had cool moments but I just had a problem with the beats. Hard to say with those less than ideal conditions, and their playing last probably didn’t help, so I’d probably like a second look.

Pina Bausch is dead

Out of sequence for a change. In a sense, it’s part of the expected loss. But it remains a loss. Not because of the memories and how she’d been a fixture for more than fifteen years. It’s a personal loss because of what would have been and won’t be. Because she died just when I had found a new interest after a few so-so years. At some point I almost stopped going, because it seemed too much of the same, and because there was such a high demand for tickets that I felt I should let someone else go. But the last few shows shaked me out of that line of thought, and that predictability was gone. Maybe familiarity had lulled me into not paying attention enough, anyway Sweet Mambo had emphatically put a stop to that. Too bad it turned out to be her last, on the other hand she left on top as far as I’m concerned.

In small understated ways, she kept giving me reasons to come back for more even when I wasn’t all that much into that particular show, and there have been many times when she brought me more than that, especially most recently. Maybe getting older helped me get a glimpse of the stuff left unshown. My fondest memory over these years remains something she left out, but that was nonetheless very much there for me. It’s definitely not a misunderstanding because I don’t pretend to understand. What was most precious to me then and is now even more so — for reasons totally unrelated to her passing — may very well be something she loathed. No way to know by now, and it never was about that because the point is she brought forth something I care about, and I took that as a way to take what she had done and claim it. Not as in claiming credit, but as acknowledging that some small part of it became a part of me, of who I would be from then on. Not every time, but often enough, and it did add up.

Her death sucks. Not because of the rich yesterdays, but because of the poorer tomorrows.

June 26th, 2009: Publicist / Bloody Claws / Hama Yôko

@instants chavirés

Yet another sparse audience, understandable with the many other gigs going on. Even I briefly considered going somewhere else, but that didn’t last because I’d been waiting for so long to hear Carla Bozulich: the first Evangelista is such an amazing record.

Hama Yôko was Yoko Higashi and Lionel Marchetti. I had never heard of the former, and in my experience the latter can be great or not, with not much in between. It was one of the keepers, I really liked almost every thing he did. At least on its own. As for Yoko Higashi, I don’t like her voice much — just too conventionally good for me — but when it was doubled through effects, her performance was much more to my liking. Not surprisingly, the more chaotic bursts of noise in between the songs were what I liked best, especially those involving radios. My favorite parts were those that reminded me of interferences, both as a sound and in the way it would undermine what had just been going on. But on the whole it was quite uneven, and sometimes Marchetti’s burners were made a little empty by their lack of relation to the rest. So for me it was a mixed bag, ranging from boring to great with many stops in between. The best moments easily made up for the boring ones, so I’m happy to have heard them.

Another duo, Bloody Claws featured Carla Bozulich on voice and guitar, and Francesco Guerri on cello. I happen to like cello, and its use in this combination was indeed nice. The beginning of the set was a little frustrating though, I felt it took a while to get going — but that’s probably because I knew too much about Bozulich and felt she was holding back. But it got better soon and while she never reached her full potential, I think it was better this way, in the sense that pushing her voice to the max would have upset the balance between the two of them. So it was the right call in my opinion. At the end she put her guitar away and even went down and sat among the audience while singing, and that one was where her voice was strongest — and she has such an amazing voice it was a very nice moment indeed. But my favorite part was a quieter song a little earlier, one that felt downright folkish, reminding me of those dark folk songs that gave rise to the murder ballads more recently. That connection with old stuff is something I have always associated with her for more or less obscure reasons, and a very real part of why I like her so much.

By the time Publicist aka Sebastian Thomson got going, there were precious few people left, which felt totally wrong, especially as his avoiding the stage should have made for a more involved audience. It called for a circle of dancing people, and all he got were bystanders and me honing my usual wallflower routine. At first I was put off by the eightiesish sound, but then the reversal hit me: he was drumming live with canned synth, and figuring that out made even the vocoder a non-issue — and that’s definitely a feat as far as I’m concerned. It did feel like a miscast though, a good set wasted on the wrong people in the wrong place. I’d like to hear him again in a more suitable setting, with a lot of more responsive people that would allow me to enjoy the show safely tucked in a distant corner.

June 24th, 2009: Johanne Saunier – Erase-e(x)

@abbesses

Of course I remember Johanne Saunier from her days in Rosas, and her emotional farewell tour with them as she was about to leave. Then nothing for a long time, until a few years ago when I saw an earlier version of this show, with only four parts at the time. I liked it enough that I would have gladly signed up to see it again even without the two additional parts.

I like the concept behind this show, even though it’s the execution that really matters. Starting from a sequence Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker gave her, she successively invited others to erase and rewrite it. Which gives rise to a lot of interesting question about who “owns” the whole, but I’m not going there. To me, it’s clear its all Johanne Saunier’s, because she’s the driving force, dancing alone for half the show, and I’m sure she had more input than her choreographying the last part gives her credit for.

Despite this division in parts, it did make a whole, thanks in part to movements going through the show. I’m not sure one phrase or gesture was actually present in some form throughout, more each part quoting a bit from an earlier one, often transformed along the way. Another important part in this continuity was that she would change on the side of the stage instead of retreating backstage. I was told there were many less obvious references to the movie Contempt throughout — less obvious than the soundtrack, sound excerts and quotes — but as I have not seen that movie nor plan to, I can’t say.

Now for the show itself as it unfolded, it started with that original phrase, both instantly identifiable as De Keersmaeker and hard to pinpoint exactly. It seemed like oldish stuff, but also quite rough, like an draft of something more elaborate, a bit like when she introduces a new direction in her work, that she later develop to fruition. After this prologue, the actual first part was credited to the Wooster Group, and looped through an audio excert from that movie, together with its soundtrack. The original gestures were there at times, but no longer flowing, transformed away from pure dance and closer to acting. I liked the way her amplified breathing got heavier and added another disturbance to the process. Nonetheless, it’s the part I like the less.

The second part was credited to Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and with that fast Indian soundtrack switched to pure dance. My favorite part as far as dance itself is concerned, but not by that much. Really good, but maybe it would have felt a little out of place if she had not added a segue into a very different section, far less abstract, to Dolly Parton’s Jolene to boot. The third part, credited to Isabella Soupart, had her joined by Charles François playing a security/bodyguard type, commenting on Saunier’s moves as in a conversation throughout. He was often close to the ground, almost gliding at times, striking poses at others. He kinda steals the show during that part. Almost because Saunier’s part made a powerful contrast, sometimes flowing and changing, sometimes almost still but not quite, with a playful side at the end when she would come closer to him.

After a break, there came the part that had been my favorite in the earlier version, because it involves a nice video setup by Kurt D’Haeseleer — with an choreography assist from Anna Massoni — and the Mulholland Drive OST. I know it’s just a detail, and that there is a better explanation for it, but her donning a blond wig over her dark hair in a part that uses this music sure rings a bell. That setup had a camera mounted on a slowly turning metal arm extended from a kind of satellite dish on a pole, complete with whirring sounds and crackling bursts of light. As she was lying on the ground, her black and white image would appear on a screen higher up, until it fade to a very bright outside sequence showing her and François outside near a road and bridge. Later, as she rose and moved around, came a series of motions with her hand touching the ground that I thought were really great. The slowest part so far, it had left me stunned and wanting more the first time, and this time it worked just as well.

Then there was a kind of break in the continuity, with Anna Massoni and Julie Verbinnen joining her for a part featuring a very cool word based music by Georges Aperghis, with the dance partly credited to Shila. Even with the movements very different, the role of breathing in that part reminded me of the first one, and of course the words about a woman were another thread. I’m not that fond of this one visually, but it’s probably my favorite thing I ever heard from Aperghis.

The final part was at last credited to Johanne Saunier herself, and that’s the one that came close to being my favorite on a pure dance basis. It’s probably just me, but the music reminded me of the Indian one earlier, as if it had been heavily filtered and processed, an effect made stronger by the added tones at the end, exactly like in that earlier part. The dance was very slow and flowing in circles, with the three dancers often moving in sync, but almost as often one would start turning around earlier but the others would catch up by going slightly faster. I loved that, and it didn’t remind me of De Keersmaeker but of Padmini Chettur, and that’s some serious praise coming from me. Then one went into an almost frantic solo before exiting the stage, leaving the other two in slow motion. Finally the other sped up too then left, leaving Saunier alone on stage again, going further back at time went on. That dancer came back on stage, wearing the same costume Saunier had during the prologue, and performed part of that original sequence with Saunier in the back. That closed the loop and marked the end of the show. At least for now. I sure wouldn’t mind another part or two.