...is the name of the William Forsythe's new piece for his own company which has been showing here as part of the Melbourne Festival. I took nine ladies to see this work on Sunday night. I buttered them up with champagne first, sitting in the sun by the river in the heart of the city. A gorgeous evening after a week of blustery spring weather.
Anyone who knows Forstythe's work will understand why I did not divulge too much information about his work before the show. Especially since most of these ladies were either new to contemporary dance - courtesy of moi danse classes extroidinaire! Or had no idea what they had embarked on but had agreed to come due to a) getting out of house at dinner/bath/bedtime routine b) champagne c) nice chit chat with ladies and d) a good chance to get out of mummy jeans/tracksuit pants and into Contemporary Dance Performance Diva Outfit - whatever that is!
Interlude - whilst I tell you that my outfit of choice for the night was an absolute bargain funky jumpsuit a bought in the UK on my last visit. Too cool for school this one. Strapless, blue with a print, and perfectly gathered at the ankles. Strappy heels, little cardigan, lots of accessories. I looked a treat. The Accountant looked me up and down with a frown. "What the hell is that?". Oh the confidence boost of showing one's husband two minutes before being picked up. I left the house with the words "....clown's costume...." ringing in my ears.
Back to Forsythe: It really was a rather extraordinary piece, with the usual juxtaposition of movement, acting, voice, props and music. In fact it was complete chaos on stage at first, and then the piece settled into an abstraction of ideas and thoughts. The movement was compelling, and no other choreographer asks so much and yet so little of their dancers. Very thoughtful and courageous. And when you are watching you realise that no one else would go to these places without having to use shock tactics such as nudity or swearing. Forsythe does not need to do that. He has us there already.
And I love that the dancers never wear costumes, but just rehearsal clothes or regular street clothes. They could be anyone, but then they do something amazing with their bodies and you realise that they are not just anyone. The ladies loved it. Had never seen anything like it, and did not know what to think when it started, but then came out with all sorts of ideas and comments.
Ahh, the good deeds I do knows no bounds. They are one of us now......
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