by Jolien Van de Velde
Review of 'or else nobody will know', Kaaitheaterstudios 19 October 2007
The Norwegian, Brussels-based choreographer Mette Edvardsen has already created several solo productions. Now she is working for the first time with several performers. Her new work features recognisable situations that the spectator can only catch glimpses of. Edvardsen manipulates time and space using repetition. The five performers only need a few attributes. The setting of the space they dance in is austere. It is a minimalist representation of things that seem very familiar, e.g. a man behind an improvised public office desk with a humming lamp above him. Some people even say that the performance contains a scene from a bank raid. There may be elements that support this theory, but it makes you think in the first place about your own environment and the things you observe and perceive everyday.
The keyword in this performance is repetition. But don’t misunderstand. The repetition of the play is confusing. It makes you look at things differently, again and again, making you dizzy. And that is precisely what Edvardsen wants. When we mentally repeat something, then doubt arises. Did this really happen? Did I really say this? As a spectator, you actually start doubting about what is happening on stage and your perception of time and space suddenly fades away. Was the piece of paper she gave him a few minutes ago that big? Did the graffiti girl spray the same tag the first time? Additionally, the performers are dressed the same, like identical twins, which only confuses you more.
The space is totally pulled open. As a spectator, you are conscious of what is happening on stage. But the game of repetition only allows your perception to analyse the whole space piece by piece. It is no sinecure to follow five performers simultaneously. In other words, Edvardsen plays with your perception. If you follow a particular performer, your attention is subtly caught by another part of the stage or a different performer: someone drops something, a performer jingles his keys, etc. Only a few seconds are enough to change your experience of space and the environment. It is a subtle game where each performer perfectly knows how to handle his or her role.
But repetition can also become tiring or boring. The tension that grows more and more in your subconscious may change into frustration if you don’t find an answer to the questions that arise during the performance. The evanescence of repetition can drive you crazy, and as a result you are not capable of absorbing anything else anymore. Even if a whole part is identically repeated, you are still convinced that something must be different. Many spectators experience this as a challenge, a quest in space and time. To others, it is a tough job that can ruin their evening.
The performance balances itself between brilliant and totally uninteresting. You need patience to handle what is happening on stage. And whether you like it or not, it makes you more conscious of space, time and perception, but also of your memory’s deception. Some people prefer not to be confronted with this idea. In the end, it is an invitation for self-analysis, expressed by a bunch of sublime performers and projected in a limited time and space. So before you decide to go and watch the show, first think if you are prepared to discover yourself this way and to accept this dialogue with dance.
Published in Cutting Edge 22 Oct 2007, http://www.cuttingedge.be. Translated from Dutch by Taaladvisie.