Three reviews from Spring Forward – Striptease, AL13FB<3 and Douglas
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Festival Spring Forward organized by the Aerowaves network and held over the weekend in Pilsen, ended on Sunday 24th April 2016. The showcase also included a critical workshop Springback Academy, whose participants published their reviews of the shows. These short evaluations of individual works can be read on the Spring Forward website (here) as well as on Taneční aktuality.cz. Enjoy! Striptease performed by Pere Faur “Anticipation of an idea“, “an attribute to postmodernism“, “an artificial construction of eroticism“… What am I talking about? Striptease, of course! From Pere Faura´s semiotic discourse we´ve learned that striptease can be lot more than just ignoble entertainment. The show itself is proof! At first we are watching a parody of a famous movie scene from Striptease with Demi Moore. There´s a camera recorder on a tripod facing the audience, but it doesn’t seem to have any special purpose. To our surprise, the spectators‘ reactions had been recorded during the show and end up being projected on a big screen. What a trick! Besides the witty and sophisticated lecture on the phenomenology of striptease, I loved watching the scene from the movie and Pere´s simultaneous interpretation of the choreography. The whole show was built on a hilarious and smart concept. Bravo. Author: Olga Fraitová AL13FB<3
performed by Fernando Belfiore
Fernando Belfiore brings us to his high-voltage world right on entering the space: loud pop music, rainbow coloured floor, random unreadable items scattered around and he, a flashy figure dancing like a corny pop singer in a videoclip. What is this world? Who is this peculiar character oddly dancing, talking and snarling? How long has he been doing that before we came? In his accumulative self introduction he claims to be here to speak to us deep into our hearts – but can he? Belfiore keeps loading on images and music – star wars swords and iron masks, pop, opera and tribal, it all seems to make sense for him in his world. But what should it mean to us, confused spectators?
AL13FB<3 won’t give many answers, but it could make you laugh and make you wonder – and maybe that’s enough.
Author: Stella Mastorosteriou
Douglas performed by Robbie Synge Caution! The situation in Pilsen’s perfectly rusty Papírna is unstable and brittle. A man stands on a rolled-up dance floor pillar, three fragile old chairs tilted beside it. Eventually he jumps down, causing a carefully thought-out domino effect with the props around him. He is Robbie Synge as Douglas - a constructor or exploring stage engineer who's incessantly reassorting a set of simple objects: tying ropes, plugging and unplugging cables, balancing on a twirling cylinder, assembling chairs and stage lights in the revelatory manner of a man-child. It's simple stage physics, but Synge can be Sisyphus or any lonely male preoccupied with reinventing things from scratch. Genuinely curious and innocently courageous, Synge evokes vividly the bare force of human creativity. Author: Jelena Mihelčić Striptease Concept, direction and video: Pere Faura
Music: Carlos Jobim and Annie Lennox, mix Ivo Bol
Light design: Paul Schimmel and Pere Faura AL13FB<3 Choreography: Fernando Belfiore
Dramaturgy: Katarina Bakatsaki and Bruno Listopad
Music: Steve Martin Snider
Light design: Tomas Vondracek
Scene: Nikola Knezevic
Artistic supervision: Suzy Blok Douglas Choreography: Robbie Synge
Music and interpretation: David Maxwell
Light design: Brian Gorman
Dramaturgical assistance: Peggy Olislaegers