NZ Listener Article : http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/dance/weg-a-way-review/
Tour includes Auckland - Tempo Auckland's Dance Festival oct 8th 2011
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=4260
Christchurch- The Body Festival (Christchurch Dance Festival) oct 12th
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=4276
Dunedin- Rice and Beans Gallery (Artist Run) oct 14th
To be written about in Art New Zealand.
The first thing people notice when this work is advertised on Facebook is that Wellington is missing from this NZ tour. They question why. Why no Wellington?
Context for this work: I applied to present this full length solo work from Berlin in the Auckland Fringe Festival 2011 as a platform back in NZ after nearly 2 years away. The work wins 4 main awards, Best Dance, Dance performer, Fringe Award, Auckland Arts Festival Award. This work despite applying for Quick Response Cnz funding which it doesn't received, is self-funded. Sponsored effectively by Winz back in Nz (social welfare) and venue (Galatos Bar charging nearly $400 pn) paid for by a music video I choreographed (Kids of 88- Sugarpills) it doesn't break even and I pay for the rehearsal space from the Auckland Festival commission of 'Watch this Space' to pitch to the main Auckland Arts Festival which is a result of the Auckland Arts Award.
Tempo immediately offers me a spot to present this work again at the new Q Theatre loft space upon winning awards and Elle Loui August from Dunedin's Rice and Beans Gallery invites me to present it there. Shortly after The Body Festival asking if 'Toxic White Elephant Shock' - the tour I've also applied to Cnz to fund is going ahead - which was applied for before devastating Earthquakes (and Tempo also rejected the tour of this work) and as the main festival for this work's proposed tour I say no- Cnz would not fund this tour. So I suggest the tour of my award-winning solo work 'Weg: A-Way'. Adam Hayward says 'sure'!
I've no idea how I am going to fund this tour at this stage. Cnz has not come to the party on any of my works for 3 years, rejecting 5/6 applications since funding and giving the Tup Lang Scholarship to TWES in 2008 before moving to Berlin to live.
So why no Wellington? Tempo, The Body and Rice and Beans have all directly approached me and invited a sponsored tour to their venues. I have no interest from Wellington, nor have I for the past decade of my career. It seems pretty self-evident right? Unless there is some kind of sponsorship support or invitation (and it appears that the Wellington dance festival formerly Dance yer socks off is still looking for a new director at this stage) I am very reluctant to take this work to Wellington.
THE WORK
What is super fascinating for me about this work is how alive and generative it is. Sean Curham and I have been having talks about this process in our work a lot lately in preparation for our collaborative commissioned pitch the Auckland Festival and audience interactivity becomes a very immediate way to work generatively.
I am fully excited to be taking this work to the heart of Southland NZ, I've not been there for nearly 10 years since dancing in Douglas Wright's 'Inland' and since being back from Berlin have enjoyed reconnecting with NZ as a whole.
What communities will I be playing with? What will each 'culture of the room' be bringing to the work and the work's essential ideas? How will the work feel to perform in these different centres? Apart from touring my 'Save/Dance' and Kill/Dance (with Vicky Kapo and Brent Harris) 10 years ago round NZ and to Melbourne, I've not toured my own work.
AUCKLAND. TEMPO.
I'm at the end of the festival, overlapping with Mj's leaving party and unofficial Tempo awards, and fight for a spot which is 9pm saturday rather than 6pm monday which is what I am first offered arguing its more of a 10pm friday night than 6pm monday kind of show. There's lots of publicity, a full page in the Listener, Newspaper interviews, just over half booked out the theatre is not quite full when it comes to show time. It was my vision to have this beautiful 'adaptable' loft space seated either on mattresses like the ak fringe festival in a big circle around the space or in a massive circle of chairs all on the same level around the space like the 'workshop/conference/therapy circle/audition' that the work continually references. I have one afternoon to pack in/tech as there's a show at 1pm, which is highly technical show. I deal with the unmovable rostrum which is set up and the blacked out theatre space created as if its tapac- the beautiful loft windows onto queen st are covered and I manage get 20 seats placed in a semi circle on the stage which gives more of a 'tv studio' feel with 1/3rd participating and active in the space and 2/3rds watching from the tiered seating. 'It's a challenge' I tell myself.
Highlights from my memory from the Dunedin Airport.
Having lights and on to it technicians to help make the work go smoothly without prompting.
A nice dance floor.
A fairly full audience, many of whom do sit in the 20-30 allocated 'token' circlular seated chairs to flow with the original concept of community or therapy circle, conference, workshop/class or audition. Because the rostrum are unmovable and cover what was the James Wallace Gallery windows facing onto Queen Street most people sit on those so the piece is set up with a more 'tv studio' talk show kind of feeling with some people participating and many watching.
It's a little like facebook in this sense, some active, some voyeurs but all participating and implicated.
I am interested in this divide, a new facet of the work's major relational art/ audience performer explorations.. something I have been working with for atleast 5 years.
I can feel anticipation. Mine, the audience's. I am preset writing on my beloved box “I am not alone” many times.
Final show in Tempo 2011, MJ O'Reilly's final Tempo.
Here's a review from fellow artist/friend Paul Young of this event..
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=4260
Memorable moments as the artist of this incredibly open and fluid work, generative performance:
Having had a bit of development sponsored by Sean Curham through Gundry st rehearsals- overall- me getting to really explore movement, to draw major attention to it this time. I fully expand my body and choreographic leanings toward Benoit Lacambre influenced (Impuls Tanz 09) internally motivated somatic exploration within my own physical frameworks and near 15 year developed movement style.. 'fluid, jaggard'.. 'articulate', 'isolated', 'sinewy'.. 'explosive;, whatever it is from the outside it feels good. Whatever section or conceptual framework the improvisation has – it is intuitive and generative. It explodes from the core. Whether I'm stripping for the 1st or 4th time, dancing in a black tutu dance party styles, or further perfecting the now institutionalised 'axe dance' or stuffing feathers in my hair to then pull of my best high kicks and pointed toes, I'm totally in it. What a luxury.
I remember in the Auckland Fringe – the first night performing it being the best experience I've ever had performing anything in my entire performance career, from which 4 top awards were born. It was mutual enamourment in which the audience and I made a love bomb. They were on top of me and because of being kept completely on toes in this first presentation within such relational aesthetics I was distracted somewhat from my own internal body and the lighting in Galatos and the revolting floor did not give the work the movement scope it really deserved to reach this time.
Apparently an older man is covering his face right from the outset as I strip, half repressed delight. Its a new intro, I enjoy giving my speech in german – hoping German's may be present which they aren't. I call myself a wanker for speaking another language and do my usual anti-capitalist 'speech'.
The first interaction- A young unitec male stands in the middle and I blind fold him. He's submissive. The lighters (sparklers banned incase smoke detector brings fire engines on the day of the show despite being oked months prior) are ok. They're more like peace out at the U2 concert than kiddywinks playing with light and sparkles in the dark, but its still a feeling and image of man and woman holding up flames in the dark.
When I join the circle and ask what people saw in this section I'm loving the responses. The most intriguing exeriences and projections of male and female dynamics come through always here. “you're inner most desires”, “putting a man and woman on stage is immediately loaded”, “you're sending each other signals but he's blind fold and you can't see or hear each other, you're in the forest, its mixed messages but you're sending signals”.
Both Shanelle's feather dance when asked to recall an object on the memory tray and tell a story about it, in which she takes the stage confidently complete with out popping boobs and I photograph her and Maria's quiet and earnest story about the tea cup reminding her of her grandmother are highlights. I give the mic to Carrie Rae and she critiques Maria's story. Its harsh, Maria has no mic and I suddenly do feel mean, even within my increasing role as german task master/control freak I so often experienced living in Berlin. Exploitative facilitator, auditioner.
I save her by saying that is infact my Nana's tea cup. The whole audience goes “awww”.
Its priceless.
Maria “doing something to me with an object” and “dance” morphed together is weird and cool. Sweet. She ties it to my apron strings. Nice.
I ask who thought that section was stupid> 2 men. Separated into different parts of the room, funny, clever and stupid, most people are up off the rostrum seating in the funny group. I am amazed. The 2 stupid men made to do a tableau of 'cleverness' for the clever group to judge was a winner. They unamonously do headstands. Are they a yoga team? Its thumbs up from the clever group.
Intriguingly its only ever 1 or 2 in the stupid group and they feel even more stupid singled out.
The provocative group struggling left over is always a beautiful tableau.
Begging for money is always a winner, using small boxes. I forget to smash the bigger box for whinging about my bread winning capacity and move to the next section. Its a glitch.
“But you want dance don't you, I have to dance, this is a dance festival right? In Europe just standing there being minimalist dancing on the inside of your brain is normal but Nzers need to see dance. I can dance.”
Axe Dance. I say “I got called Expressionist in Germany for this work, which I found quite ironic” illicits quite a big laugh. Germany being the origin of expressionism. I actually only just find the true irony of this IN THIS MOMENT. This is improvised text.
Its a work I made in Berlin and performed there a year ago.
Its intense. A candle, an axe, face covered, a cape, tutu, 'berlin' hoody – red pantys. Internal imagery for me of birth and death, birth self, shedding self, struggling in growing pains. Cape over face, tutu and undies pulled down, half out, half in... mid birth. Sexual, whatever you like. Traumatised, for sure. Fetishised, inviting objectification.
I run the axe over my naked body, I give birth to the axe. Some people see Little Red Riding Hood embodied. Total projections. But all relevant. German fairy tales.
The dance gets a very big clap at the end.
Then I smash the box. Its intense, less laughter than fringe. I accuse it of not supporting me and getting its own job, and the little ones. I ask "how are the boxes going"? in terms of money collection. Silence. I tell them Winz is on my arse (which is true) and that touring isn't cheap and I don't have funding and don't get my Tempo box office for a few weeks. They laugh. Is it empathetic laughter, the irony if of it all? I think so.
I sing a song – “you need a song too?” I can't really sing but I will sing, for you. I'm emotional german style electro, über cool and cold, I'm expressive expressionist. I'm a witch, I'm going to eat your children's children and put monkeys in your arsehole. I'm going to fuck you, all, I'm going to fuck you.. because I know hoooooooooow to looooooooooooove yooooou.
Always love getting people into groups to talk about saving the world while I prance around party styles with a glove safety pinned to my leggings and boob to Sam Hamilton's “olive eyes”.
Feedback, key words on my body. Whose gonna write it? The mic goes round, usual stuff. Friends, support, environment, save me, peace. Things like this are written on my body from each group by 2 women volunteers. An older woman in the audience walks out at this moment. Its usually a combo of earnest and people saying things like “I bought a cat from the SPCA”.
Then I get everyone to focusing on breathing, I invite someone to lie with me. A man or woman, whatever. Its Liz Kirk. I ask how she is. She says she doesn't want to talk, she only came to lie. I tell the audience “she is being controlling” which is further humiliating. Its ironic, naturally. It gets increasingly uncomfortable for her, she's totally unwilling to answer questions. I keep asking anyway. What is it you really want in your life? “That's heavy” she says. Then 'A holiday'. I translate for her with the mic. I say that I want everyone to be happy and also to be deeply truly in love.
Next section, still life portraits with objects to Daniel Satele's “Sensing Murder”. A very long, 'minimal', slow and emo section. This is possibly one of the most misunderstood sections. Playing with tableau's using objects already used and newly introduced, tea cup, trophy, sword, tvs, axe, red puppet to masturbate with, death puppet to pash, foucault's book of 'power is knowledge', german nazi family photos I bought in the Berlin markets- I do slow motion portraits or still lifes in which as a life model (My main job in Berlin)– I am playing the line between object/fetishism and objectification, exploiting my own emotional drama- deep experience of german history and trauma.. “sensing murder” I crawl across across the photos piled over my body slowly into someone's lap. I hug them, I cling to them. I don't know who it is. They hug me back. It's Anna Bate, choreographer I have just been dancing for! I don't know this until afterwards when told. There's a sense of being a beached whale crawling into someone's lap and I flap about like a stuck turtle into the next section.
Shaking section. Pain turns to shaking, to release. Half head bash, rock n roll styles, party, stumble, scream, lost run, horror film cliché, I explode about the space to Nathan Taare's track – Amon Tobinesque, garage. I add some screaming into the section which wasn't there before from my Rainbow Warrior piece because it seems appropriate for voice and movement to get together here unrepressed. Its the most fun section for me. Its hard work though, I love jumping around. I get tv number one, dance with it, shake. Then put it on the floor and try to shag it. Sitting on it and writing, I then get tv number 2. Same thing. I position myself between them and its a threesome. I lie on them and writhe. People are laughing. Its painful yes. They're awkward contact partners. I pretend to axe them, threatening to explode then stand on top of one. Its another fetishised image of woman embodying horror, cliche axe portrait of violence on the body via and now using as podium television.
Change to video projection. I say I'm showing full length pics, shout of if you see one good for my cv I'm still looking for a job. In Berlin you needed to send a full length photo even for a bakery job coz its important to look hot when making bread/pretzels in Germany for $6, ja more exploitation stores. I tell a story about Impuls tanz changing my life. Losing your story, then this surrender opening you up to life in all its colours. Its a cool story but I think most people can't hear it.
Final section I ask the audience to tell a story – their story, or one of exploitation, how to change that. Moppy's track he's just given me that day. Its too loud. The audience argues with each other. "It's too late to save the world" vs "I think its NEVER too late". I dance with feathers, an empty pack from which i have been producing all my costumes. I take it off, the pack, and yell 'you think this is easy?' i point my toes and do high kicks, 'this is easy' I put feathers awkwardly in my hair and keep dancing, with the sword, naked again, with the sword. Without the sword, naked. Gentle, the audience is finishing up. No I can't hear them.
The last person, Becca says “can you hear us Alexa?” - I say to myself yes of course I can, as I don't answer and leave them. Facilitator abandonment, leaving it open to self - responsibility.
Bow.
I get critiqued after for “not listening” for it being “all about you” which I find pretty interesting. Haven't seen as much audience involvement ever myself and we are not separate, I use myself to distract from them if its too much and hold the space regardless what I'm doing.
As long as the audience was listening to themselves and each other I am just holding the space. Interesting expectations, need for my approval and engagement. Its all distraction. No i didn't hear the guy say he wanted to kill himself before I took the mic. I had people writing on my naked body key words from the room.
Interesting questions, expectations and projections. Inviting people to self exploit by example and order and turning it/transforming it into expression, liberation, community awareness and self healing- I am encouraging others toward self-responsibility, including myself. I am a sacrifice for the healing of others, the hearing. The sharing and whatever they say and do is entirely their responsibility. :)
The Auckland Tempo 'vibe' in retrospect for this work is for me: Dance community friends and older intellectuals.
There is an expectation in the air, the vibe is 'entertainment'. The audience engages in a light hearted way on the whole, aside from 'its really important to be an artist', 'i think its never too late', and a random 'I want to kill myself' comment... they are the most critical audience so far it feels.
CHRISTCHURCH THE BODY FESTIVAL.
It's the Hagley Community College theatre. Earthquakes have destroyed most of the city's venues. The show is competing with Ann Dewey's well funded 'Shine Lady' show. The audience is very minimal, 30 or 40. They're ALL sitting on the stage in a circle.
WHAT AN AMAZING AUDIENCE.
Proving the power of intimacy and the work's leanings towards 'group therapy' or 'workshop' - it really feels like it.
This audience is attentive, engaged, polite, gentle. They laugh in the right places though and applaud my song "I'm gonna fuck you all and you're gonna like it and so am I" which really surprises me. They think its funny. Its a mix of older people and about 6 people I know, some young art people. No one from Christchurch dance apart from Julia Milsom (the reviewer) is at this show.
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=4276
Not once did this audience 'take the piss'. When given the microphone to speak about how to save the world or help others or themselves, or give comment on exploitation or share a story of it did one audience member make a joke in this show. This is Christchurch. They've lost their central city, many of their homes, they've had friends and family die in earthquakes and had their lives ruined. They have had no power and had use their back gardens for toilets, the concept of joking about these things to them seems immature and facile. I really appreciated this audience's engagement and insights, what they shared. I enjoyed their gentle enjoyment of my work and their kind expressions of their enjoyment after. They were earnest and without expectation, most of them. They took the work for what it was.
Highlights for me were - again being able to really perform and dance the movement well because of it being in a proper theatre with technician and lights. The gentle telling of stories about pens, about the trophy. First time ever someone has wanted to soley 'dance with me' as an option in the object section and a local performance artist Audrey - did. We did a dance in ode to the trophy. It was silly.
The whole audience freezing when I asked what they made of the lighter/sparkler section. This gave me the chance to deal with 'what to do' if no one interacted. Move to the next section! The divide between 'clever' and 'funny' groups (no one in this crowd thought the previous section was stupid) - really worked. The funny group- much larger as always really had to perform for the clever group who were appropriately small and critical. It set up a nice tension which was less heightened than Auckland audiences, where they felt more comfortable with the tension and played in a detached way.
Unanimous applause after my song 'witches really love you'.
People speaking through the microphone was a highlight as I've said. Its the longest an audience has ever taken to speak, I had to loop the track for both of these sections to give them longer.. where the role of 'group therapist' really played itself out. A small group of women wrote sweet things on my body as key words and were very sensitive about doing so. I told them "I'm listening" when I handed the mic over. This is a clip of the first of these sections:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150331144951927&saved#!/video/video.php?v=10150331144951927
Phillipa Cosgrove lying with me in the 'someone lie with me' section. She is a former Sean Curham dancer and now mum in Christchurch, having lived overseas for years. When asking her what she wanted to happen she said 'everyone to become enlightened'. I suggested on the count of 3 and counted. She sighed. I asked how we know when we are enlightened? She said - 'you must feel happy all the time'. I asked her if she was in love? She said 'in and out of love'. She told me what she likes about the show is its humour, that she likes humour and thinks we are all too serious.
I removed the slide show section for an experiment- having been critiqued in Auckland for this being extraneous.. and it was missed. Many of them said they found the show amazing and clever and fun and could have watched it for longer.
Then I get feedback that an artist said he found it amazing- manipulative and totally convincing. Yay, they get it.. this self expression/exploitation and encouragement to also do so.. to see how people respond. How complicit we become in such things, but also how it can be a fine line between liberation/expression and exploitation.
That was Christchurch!
DUNEDIN RICE AND BEANS GALLERY
Apart from being now totally in love with Dunedin for a number of reasons- this apart from Auckland first night of the Auckland Fringe - was the most intense and amazing performance so far.
They were wild. They were on top of me. They were like 'you can't fuck with us we've read too many books'. They laughed, they resisted, they threw my mic stand at me and wrestled me the floor and smashed the mic. They argued with me and questioned why they should interact, then they cried. They had a profound experience with me and with each other. They really got it on a conceptual level. They demonstrated it.
'This is a demonstration of Foucauldian resistance' I pointed out when someone refused to tell a story. Laughter. Then the whole room resisted, together.
They were rock and roll. The guy who broke my mic- a tech guy- then fixed it afterward and sweetly returned it to me. Apparently he never does aggressive things ever.
The woman who lay with me- Eddie- when i asked what she expected/wanted to happen now- said suddenly realising the implications of the question 'nothing, nothing, i'm not expecting anything' and when I asked if she wanted to ask me a question which I'd never done before she said 'why do you do this?' i said 'what am i doing'? and she said 'getting naked and doing all this stuff?' and i said 'because it creates real intimacy, authentic intimacy between audience and performer'... which I'd always wanted to say. When I asked her what she was expecting from the show she said she heard there was nudity (the audience/community all laughed) and that she would like it. I asked if her expectation was satiated and she said 'I think so'.
People were so moved and grateful and afterward so many people, including men who had cried as I screamed and pretended to have sex with a tv, said it was brave and honest and thanked me sincerely.
I got emails for weeks afterwards from affected people and was told the impact on the Dunedin arts community had been profound. My favourite sayings about it were 'beautiful trauma', 'blissful shock', '8 percent axe porn', 'like being hit in the head with a brick before falling into a coma'.
They were affected. So was I..
"Its really about power isn't it?" asked one woman after who had been heckling from the door. "Is it?" i said. She said she saw my Foucault power refs but also Freud and fetishism. "Yes"> i said. "Definitely fetishism"> She said "you had total control"> "DID I?" i said. LOL. Could've fooled me! I had always prepped for an audience to resist and heckle.. this was the one and it was amazing to perform, to get pushed further within my own limits. The german task master really discovered her full potential on this tour, more than the manipulating facilitator I felt. There are many many layers yes, I had to resist these guys resisting me! It was rock show. The tech Campbell Walker - local film maker coz this is Dunedin- fixed the mic cord during the show- as the audience had effectively disable communication between themselves and me and I'd yelled 'I'm now just gonna have to yell at you!" as my song was coming up- over the music!
It was special.
Dunedin crush.
South Island love. The air is real different down there at the bottom of the world, it was transformative.
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