Sunday, April 19, 2009

Ros Warby's Monumental (and the Places it Took Me)


This past Friday evening (April 17), I waded through a torrential downpour to the theater district to see Australian dancer/choreographer Ros Warby in her solo piece, Monumental. This is going to be part review, part personal reflection. I'll try not to ramble.

There are some thing that I really appreciate about performing artists and one of them is a willingness to be still. The opening moments were very satisfying to me as Warby stood on stage, lit from the side, making small gestures with moments of stillness between. I was with her immediately, enjoying her stage presence and her willingness to simple let us look at her in her skull cap and tutu.

For the next hour, Warby moved about the stage with an almost matter-of-fact-ness. That is, she maintained a stage presence without doing particularly flashy dance moves. There were turns and dips and floor work and all kinds of dancerly things going on---don't get me wrong---but there was also a lack of pretense of the work. More on that later.

Warby was playing with images from classical dance, specifically the swan and the soldier. She danced in front of film and video projections of large waterfowl and her own dancing. The archival footage of the waterfowl were often grainy and lent a certain feeling of nostalgia. It reminded me of nature films in grade school, back when teachers had to know how to thread a film projector. The moments when her own dancing was projected behind her gave us that impression of dancing with herself---something that also often fascinates me. There were many elements of what she did that captured my attention in these small ways.

As for her actual movement vocabulary, her referencing the ballet images worked for me because she looked like someone who was playing at ballet, not trying to actually do ballet. (I was a bit surprised in her talk-back after the show when she said she was classically trained and much of her work is trying to undo that training---I'd say she's done well in the undoing.) There were no virtuoso turns or leaps. The most articulat part of her body appeared to be her shoulders, which I admit I found fascinating. Her shoulders were the source for most of her arm gestures and I was amazed at the range of motion there. There were times I would have sworn that her shoulder blades slid halfway around her rib cage or her clavicle might fold in half

All of which to say, this performance kept my attention. It played with conventions and devices that I find interesting and engaging.

This is not true of everyone in the audience.

Early in the performance---with all that small gesture and stillness---I heard a couple behind me make comments about falling asleep. They were not engaged and left about halfway into the performance. A man and a child two rows in front of me left just before the performance ended. The child especially appeared bored.

And I thought---This is not dance for a beginner dance audience. It is, in fact, advanced dance viewing. In hearing the comments behind me, I realized that I might have been in the same frame of mind several years ago. I would have been a bit more judgmental, also thinking, "would you please just DO something!"

But I brought to this performance not only a history of dance viewing, but also a knowledge of dance history. There was a point in the performance when I thought, "this owes so much to the Judson Dance Theater." That performance style I mentioned early---no pretense, no virtuosity---brought to mind the "No Manifesto" of Yvonne Rainer, who was a founder of the Judson group. It came as no surprise, then, when Warby told us in her talk-back that she was a student of Deborah Hay, also a member of the Judson group.

Much of this dance history is the result of my time at Columbia College Chicago, studying for my M.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts. One of the strongest aspects of that program was the dance history we got in out "movement images" class. When I lived in Austin, I had taken a couple of classes with Deborah Hay but was mostly befuddled by them---I didn't understand where she was coming from or what she was doing. After the movement images class, I had a much better appreciation for what she was doing. I understood more where she was in the spectrum of dance.

All of which raises the question: Do you need a master's degree to appreciate this art?

I'm not sure. Certainly there will be people who will pick up on the thought and intention behind post-modern art, just as I believe there are people who can pick up on the energy behind abstract expressionist painting without knowing the art history behind the movement.

At the same time, I sympathized with the people behind me. They simply didn't have the eyes for what Warby was presenting. I'd attained the eyes for it relatively recently myself. For me, that took studying for a master's degree.

Does that make what I saw Friday night "high art," or at least "higher" art?

I wouldn't say that. I would say that I've seen dance by, say a company like Philadanco, that was high energy, full of razzle-dazzle, full of crowd pleasing feats of physical prowess---and I would suspect the same amount of thought and creativity went into making that dance as Warby put into hers. It's different art. To use a loaded term, it's more accessible art. But low art?

Let's not kid ourselves. There is plenty of bad dance to be found. A lot of it is easy, move-and-pose dance, no matter how much energy goes into it. It's simply not that interesting. It might be entertaining, but it's ultimately eye candy. And I'm all for some eye-candy now and then---I sometimes say I like broccoli and I like Hershey's kisses, but I know the difference between their nutritional value and which is likely to better sustain me.

I enjoyed myself Friday night. I'm also glad that I didn't try to take certain friends with me to the show. It isn't the type of show that will fill a venue like the Cullen Theater and if it weren't for the huge projections, I would say it was better suited for a more intimate space. It's a credit to the Society for the Peforming Arts that they will book such challenging shows.

I often ponder the place of arts education in expanding an art audience. The above doesn't begin to cover all my ruminations over the last 48 hours since I left the theater.

But these are the places this performance took me. I would very much welcome comments on personal experiences with education and "getting" different styles or forms of art.

8 Comments:

Blogger becky said...

thanks for this, Neil. i know next-to-nothing about dance, but i appreciated your ruminations on 'high' and 'low' art. also, your commentary made me feel i could 'see' some of the performance, and that i might have been able to enjoy it even without knowing anything about dance. :)

i don't know what the drill is for submitting essays for the IMAGE blogs (are you reading those?) but i think with some minor reworking, this piece would fit there.

7:32 AM  
Anonymous Nichelle said...

Oooh, thanks for your thoughts on this, Neil. I was curious about audience reaction, actually because I agree this was not for a "beginner audience."

Do you need a master's? Nah, but exposure and a certain amount of discussion is probably required to develop an appreciation for certain art or artists.

I used to hate dark chocolate. I found it bitter and not as smooth as the Hershey's milk chocolate on which I was practically raised. Later, perhaps during a period of weakened resolve, exposure to different brands and qualities of dark chocolate led me to a new appreciation. In fact now dark is my chocolate of choice (even the Hershey's variety)! Being a less cerebral experience, appreciation of chocolate probably doesn't need much discussion. ;) However, with dance, I think it is beneficial for beginners to have someone that can help them make connections historically and otherwise, as you had in your course.

Thanks also for your statements about high vs. low art and accessibility. I particularly appreciated this: "I would suspect the same amount of thought and creativity went into making that dance as Warby put into hers."

Viewers have a tendency when they move to "advanced audience" status to develop disdain for anything that "beginner audiences" might enjoy. For me, I still like Hershey kisses every now and then, too!

7:44 AM  
Blogger Neil Ellis Orts said...

Becky, I haven't been following the Image blogs. Mostly a matter of number of hours in a day! Maybe with your nudging, I'll go pay more attention to them.

Nichelle, I'm with you on still enjoying the more "popular" while still expanding to other experiences (whether chocolate or dance!). I grew a pop music fan in the 70s, and I mean top 40 Barry Manilow type stuff. I've come a long way in my music appreciation, but I can't look back in disdain at Manilow. Quite often, it was enthusiasm for pop music that sent me looking at the "harder" stuff.

But perhaps that's a different essay. Back to dance---I think I can honestly say that being entertained by MTV music video dance in the 80s has led me to appreciate Warby. There were just a few steps (no pun) in between to get there! Curiosity is the key, as Kate Warren (of Cafe Dance and the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company) taught me in Austin. Some people are curious, many are not. Or are curious about things like engineering. It's cool. We need "higher" engineering, too.

And maybe more than arts education, we need to foster curiosity.

8:39 AM  
Blogger bridge2peace said...

Neil,
I too was there Friday night, though unexpectedly. The downpour caused our track meet to get cancelled, so I hussled home, changed and headed to the Cullen Theater. I ran into one of my athletes who still had his uniform on and was there at the request of his mother. So, if we are any indication, the crowd probably had its share of people who may have been caught off guard by the performance.
I admit that I didn't get into the performance as you did, possibly because I was in an athletic frame of mind rather than an artistic one and as you note, she successfully dismissed her classical training. I thought the performance was something more like what DiverseWorks would do rather than SPA since it was a stretch for much of the audience that just wanted simple entertainment, rather than art. The comment from the row in back of me: "Well, that must've been very therapeutic for her."
In looking back, the piece has stuck with me, though at the time, I did not seem engrossed, or if so, only in wondering what was going to ever evolve. At one point, I closed my eyes and just listened to the "music," which was very telling...it was the same note being held with distortions around it...much like her movement. Just as you made an analogy to food, so will I; rather than being a tasting of food such as broccoli or chocolate, both familiar, I think the performance was akin to eating a meal prepared with some other cultural influence, like some Vietnamese dishes I've had...I don't know if I enjoy it or not, but am at least intrigued by the new and different tastes.

9:48 PM  
Blogger Neil Ellis Orts said...

I'm loving the food analogies. Why not? Food is something we all relate to, even if we don't all relate to a particular art form.

Yes, it was very "DiverseWorksy" (to coin a term).

Which brings up another question: Does the venue or the presenter create certain expectations for a theater-goer?

Or, does it make sense that the SPA put this into a series (New Now) with Laurie Anderson and Joe Goode? Having seen all three this season, they were all quite different, with Joe Goode feeling the most accessible to a casual audience (but I may no longer be a judge of what that is!). And of course, Laurie Anderson wasn't dance but music---but quite "out there" as well. Does a series create expectations? (I notice that SPA doesn't have a "new now" series for next season---only a designation of "new now" for certain events within a series.)

Was Monumental therapeutic for Warby? I wouldn't hazard a guess, but this sort of comment is another one of those "I didn't get it, so it must be self-indulgent on the part of the so-called artist, who failed to communicate to me" kinds of comments. Sometimes we, as an audience don't have the "language" or receive the communication. For example, I'm not as interested in ballet as I am in modern and post-modern dance, so I'm sure I missed some of the things Warby was "saying" about classical ballet. I don't know that language well enough. On the other hand, I know enough of the post-modern language to correctly guess that she was heir to someone from Judson.

So what I'm getting at is this: Can we as an audience learn to approach this with some curiosity rather than judgment. By that I mean, can we say, "I don't know what she was saying---how do I find out more about her mode of communication" rather than dismiss it with "shouldn't she be working this out with a therapist?" Art education or art curiosity . . . it's difficult because tickets to the theater are expensive and maybe we don't want to risk the money on something that will leave us scratching our heads.

Perhaps a recommended reading list would be useful with a season announcement? "If you are new to postmodern dance, you might want to read a bit of Terpsichore in Sneakers by Sally Banes before attending the performance." That sort of thing?

Good comments all around!

10:55 PM  
Blogger Anne McCrady said...

Neil,

You are so often our guide into "curious" discussions of the interdisciplinary observation of art. Thanks!

In fact, as I read your very interesting and readable post (as a writer and former dance enthusiast), I thought of another art form: poetry. In poetry, there are the same issues of "getting it" when there is allusion or complex structure or difficult metaphor in addition to the usual sound and form and entertainment aspects.

As a poet aware of all those tools, I work hard to write pieces that are pleasing to a wide range of different audiences: those who are just listening to me read (and don't have the written form to consider), those who want to be entertained (with surface emotions) and also those who know all the arduous work of writing poetry (architecture, texture, music and intellectual puzzle). Few readers will see all of that, but I always hope one or two, seeing something they find pleasing, will say, Wow!

In reading your post about Monumental and dance in general, I think the same approach applies. We never know who our audience will be, so there needs to be something for everyone to find satisfying. That universality, that ability for the viewer to find their own pleasure, is, in fact, what great art is all about!

4:44 AM  
Blogger Siren said...

Neil-
I was at Rigoletto in the adjacent theater, so I sadly missed Ros' work. But putting my two cents in on accessibility and art: either an audience member has an open mind or not, no higher education needed---but art education is a must, especially at a young age: learning to open our eyes to news things without judgement (that's a lifelong lesson, eh?).

6:38 AM  
Blogger Neil Ellis Orts said...

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful and thought-provoking responses to this post.

Anne, yes, you're right, there are many parallels between dance and poetry. We're not trained to "look at" either. You've probably heard me say more than once that I lack a certain ability with poetry myself. I'm quite the prosaic guy! Just as I've had to be trained to look at certain types of dance, I've had to be trained to read poetry. Thankfully, I've been blessed with both dancers and poets in my life to help with that!

You mention the line you try to walk between accessibility and the "tricks" (for lack of a better term) that one learns as a poet, but may be opaque to those who are untrained in poetry. I wonder about these things, too, struggle between using all the tricks I know (which may impress people in academia but few others) or keeping accessibility the goal. I have to say, sometimes, I simply want to use the tools at hand and not worry about accessibility. In fact, it sometimes feels unfair that I might be asked to not use my education. Now, honestly, i'm not drawn all that much to the far edge of the experimental and at heart, I'm still a farm boy from Paige that just wants to tell stories. But it's also clear that my idea of "simple" storytelling has shifted since I left the farm.

Surely there are choices between "dumbing down" and "talking over," but maybe there are times to even do both of those extremes.

8:17 AM  

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