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Ticketmaster is a scam. I just bought a ticket to see Skinny Puppy in June. The tickets are listed as $29.50, which is quite reasonable. I've never before encountered a place which told you your grand total only after your payment had gone through. My total ended up being $43 (which is more than I can really afford). What the heck is a convenience charge, and why is it $8.75?
Still, I've loved Puppy since the mid-80s, and am relishing the thought of finally getting to see them live. Oh yes!
Are you going?
------
I went to Toronto on Saturday to attend two dance performances: Tedd Robinson's REDD (a contemporary dance piece) and Denise Fujiwara's No Exit (a butoh piece). I must admit, I am not a fan of REDD. Although there were elements I enjoyed (Robinson is a wiz with fabric draping), overall, I found myself literally falling asleep while he was onstage. Robinson's hour-long performance was broken into three parts. The first part opened with him coming on stage with a crooked walking stick. He began doing a quick side-to-side sway with his hips. Then he stopped, balanced the stick on his head, and resumed the hip movements. A man in the audience was very impressed by this rudimentary balancing act and yelled out "Bravo!" I suggest he check out a raqs saif, raqs shamadan, or Moroccan tea tray performance to be truly blown away by dancers with stuff on their heads. The rest of the performance consisted of Robinson reading text written on large bits of fabric, occasionally wrapping the fabric around himself kimono-style. He talked about country living, and bears in the woods. The whole time I watched and listened, I couldn't help but think he sounded like a city slicker talking about something he'd never experienced. It just did not ring true. Then again, I grew up on farms and in forests, living off the land, so go figure. If I were to dance city living, I'll betcha it wouldn't ring true, either.
The next piece he did was his most interesting. He came out with a blinding kimono. It was covered with reflective sequins or paillettes, so glaringly bright that the kimono seemed electrically powered. After posing reflectively (in both senses of the word), the odd, off-kilter music began to blend with an Irish ballad. He stripped off the kimono, and underneath was wearing a kilt and sporran. This is the only time he evoked a physical reaction from me. I laughed at the incongruity. And then he did a stomping sort of dance.
The third dance consisted of Robinson showing up onstage with a giant stick balanced on his head. He talked about being a professional balancer. And then he stuck the stick upright in the stage, rearranged his t-shirt and some more wrapped/draped cloth so he looked monk-like (he actually was a Buddhist monk, by the way), and sat under the stick. That was the end.
As the lights faded and before the applause began, a man in the audience said in a loud voice, "I can't believe I paid money for this."
Although I believe the man's response was unconscionably rude (it was obvious to me that Robinson had been crushed by the outburst), I understood where he was coming from. This performance had come across to me as self-aggrandizing, second-rate performance art. Other people in the audience, however, would disagree. I heard much laughter during the performance (and not the derisive sort, either). So maybe I just didn't get Robinson's art. I don't know. I do know I'll never choose to watch another of his performances. I am glad I didn't pay money, though. I was seeing the show on trade (I volunteered to hand out surveys in exchange for watching the performances).
Up next was Denise Fujiwara's No Exit. This was the real reason I'd come to the show. I've done workshops with Fujiwara before and found her kind and knowledgeable, and the workshops illuminating. I'd also attended the Can-Asian Dance Festival (one of her pet projects) and it was excellent. So I wanted to see the butoh choreography she'd built around the Sartre play, No Exit.
I was not disappointed. Although I'd never read the play (bad Shan--not doing the research before seeing the dance!), I have a passing familiarity with Sartre's works and philosophy. And I certainly wasn't sleepy during this performance.
The performance has no dialogue, but the story-telling is visceral. Three individuals die and go to hell: a small room with three chairs, a table, and a knife. The mood is oppressive and crushing. Sasha Ivanochko's character is Inez, hate-riddled and malevolent. Miko Sobreira is Garcin, traumatized and neurotic. Rebecca Hope Terry is Estelle, sexually desperate and unappealing. The three interact in an ugly romantic triangle, reaching for one another in cloying, violent desperation before turning on themselves and one another.
Hell is other people.
Performance-wise, my eyes were constantly drawn to Ivanochko. Her face, body, and movements barraged me with palpable waves of emotion. It was hard to pull my eyes away from her to the other dancers. That being said, the others were also very strong performers, but it is difficult to share a space with such an incredibly strong stage presence.
---------
Afterwards, I left to walk back to the bus station. Perhaps influenced by the dance shows, I still felt a mood of oppression and doom. Although it was a Saturday night in the largest city in Canada, the streets were very empty and dark. I walked through ill-lit streets and past construction sites. A few homeless people were preparing for the night, setting up sleeping bags on street corners. A rifled-through purse lay abandoned on the sidewalk. I kept a lot of space between myself and the shadows, striding with purpose close to the street and with my peripheral vision on high alert. One man asked me for money. Another asked me for drugs.
By the time I got home, it was 1:30 in the morning, and I collapsed in bed thankfully.
Still, I've loved Puppy since the mid-80s, and am relishing the thought of finally getting to see them live. Oh yes!
Are you going?
------
I went to Toronto on Saturday to attend two dance performances: Tedd Robinson's REDD (a contemporary dance piece) and Denise Fujiwara's No Exit (a butoh piece). I must admit, I am not a fan of REDD. Although there were elements I enjoyed (Robinson is a wiz with fabric draping), overall, I found myself literally falling asleep while he was onstage. Robinson's hour-long performance was broken into three parts. The first part opened with him coming on stage with a crooked walking stick. He began doing a quick side-to-side sway with his hips. Then he stopped, balanced the stick on his head, and resumed the hip movements. A man in the audience was very impressed by this rudimentary balancing act and yelled out "Bravo!" I suggest he check out a raqs saif, raqs shamadan, or Moroccan tea tray performance to be truly blown away by dancers with stuff on their heads. The rest of the performance consisted of Robinson reading text written on large bits of fabric, occasionally wrapping the fabric around himself kimono-style. He talked about country living, and bears in the woods. The whole time I watched and listened, I couldn't help but think he sounded like a city slicker talking about something he'd never experienced. It just did not ring true. Then again, I grew up on farms and in forests, living off the land, so go figure. If I were to dance city living, I'll betcha it wouldn't ring true, either.
The next piece he did was his most interesting. He came out with a blinding kimono. It was covered with reflective sequins or paillettes, so glaringly bright that the kimono seemed electrically powered. After posing reflectively (in both senses of the word), the odd, off-kilter music began to blend with an Irish ballad. He stripped off the kimono, and underneath was wearing a kilt and sporran. This is the only time he evoked a physical reaction from me. I laughed at the incongruity. And then he did a stomping sort of dance.
The third dance consisted of Robinson showing up onstage with a giant stick balanced on his head. He talked about being a professional balancer. And then he stuck the stick upright in the stage, rearranged his t-shirt and some more wrapped/draped cloth so he looked monk-like (he actually was a Buddhist monk, by the way), and sat under the stick. That was the end.
As the lights faded and before the applause began, a man in the audience said in a loud voice, "I can't believe I paid money for this."
Although I believe the man's response was unconscionably rude (it was obvious to me that Robinson had been crushed by the outburst), I understood where he was coming from. This performance had come across to me as self-aggrandizing, second-rate performance art. Other people in the audience, however, would disagree. I heard much laughter during the performance (and not the derisive sort, either). So maybe I just didn't get Robinson's art. I don't know. I do know I'll never choose to watch another of his performances. I am glad I didn't pay money, though. I was seeing the show on trade (I volunteered to hand out surveys in exchange for watching the performances).
Up next was Denise Fujiwara's No Exit. This was the real reason I'd come to the show. I've done workshops with Fujiwara before and found her kind and knowledgeable, and the workshops illuminating. I'd also attended the Can-Asian Dance Festival (one of her pet projects) and it was excellent. So I wanted to see the butoh choreography she'd built around the Sartre play, No Exit.
I was not disappointed. Although I'd never read the play (bad Shan--not doing the research before seeing the dance!), I have a passing familiarity with Sartre's works and philosophy. And I certainly wasn't sleepy during this performance.
The performance has no dialogue, but the story-telling is visceral. Three individuals die and go to hell: a small room with three chairs, a table, and a knife. The mood is oppressive and crushing. Sasha Ivanochko's character is Inez, hate-riddled and malevolent. Miko Sobreira is Garcin, traumatized and neurotic. Rebecca Hope Terry is Estelle, sexually desperate and unappealing. The three interact in an ugly romantic triangle, reaching for one another in cloying, violent desperation before turning on themselves and one another.
Hell is other people.
Performance-wise, my eyes were constantly drawn to Ivanochko. Her face, body, and movements barraged me with palpable waves of emotion. It was hard to pull my eyes away from her to the other dancers. That being said, the others were also very strong performers, but it is difficult to share a space with such an incredibly strong stage presence.
---------
Afterwards, I left to walk back to the bus station. Perhaps influenced by the dance shows, I still felt a mood of oppression and doom. Although it was a Saturday night in the largest city in Canada, the streets were very empty and dark. I walked through ill-lit streets and past construction sites. A few homeless people were preparing for the night, setting up sleeping bags on street corners. A rifled-through purse lay abandoned on the sidewalk. I kept a lot of space between myself and the shadows, striding with purpose close to the street and with my peripheral vision on high alert. One man asked me for money. Another asked me for drugs.
By the time I got home, it was 1:30 in the morning, and I collapsed in bed thankfully.
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Poignant Review.
Date: 2007-04-30 03:41 pm (UTC)From:I saw a performance (well, stage managed it, actually) by Valerie Green of DanceEntropy.com this weekend, that seemed butoh-influenced. I couldn't find any Asian training in her bio, and it was driving me crazy, but it turns out that piece was a collaboration with another Asian-influenced performer.
She owns her own space, btw, http://www.greenspacestudios.com that operates as an incubator for new works. You'd probably fit in well, should you want to take it on the road.
Great reviews, btw. Mind if I link to them from fameorfamine.com?
Re: Poignant Review.
Date: 2007-04-30 04:31 pm (UTC)From:I've not heard of Valerie Green, but my dance knowledge has been very insular so far. I'm trying to rectify that. Alas, but the URL you gave me isn't working. I'll try again later. Maybe their server is just down for the moment.
I'm glad you like the reviews! And yes, please link 'em! Thanks!
Re: Poignant Review.
Date: 2007-04-30 05:07 pm (UTC)From:thanks, I'll have things up later.
Re: Poignant Review.
Date: 2007-05-04 03:05 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 04:34 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 07:23 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 07:25 pm (UTC)From:As for not playing Vancouver, well, I have no answers. Are they doing any west coast shows?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 07:41 pm (UTC)From:It looks as if they will be playing California, I didn't see any other West Coast states. Maybe they have or had a local tour and I missed it.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 01:05 am (UTC)From:(Yes, that's $15 in fees on a $26 ticket. Yes, that's more than 50%. No, I am not a happy dragon.)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 07:24 am (UTC)From:I'm thinking about seeing Skinny Puppy in Montreal on the June 6th, but I'm still in Fredericton, so that's $43 for a ticket and like $200 for a bus ticket. And probably another $100 for a hotel room unless I want to sleep in the bus station.
Also, I'm mighty committed to seeing Manson in August, so I'll probably save my money.
REDD
Date: 2007-05-04 12:32 pm (UTC)From: (Anonymous)Tedd Robinson here. I am sorry that I made you sleepy and I agree that you obviously didn't "get" my "art". I am glad that you didn't have to pay as well. I have been doing this for 30 years and my particular brand of performance is not for everyone (one of the reason's I have been called a canadian original). I do want to clear up something ... I live in the country, on a 94 acre overgrown, non functioning farm, and everything that I "read" in the performance is true. You did pick up on the fact that I am a city slicker. I moved to the country 2 years ago after living in "downtowns" most of my adult life.
We need information to understand and appreciate most things ... and people. Because you had experienced the working process of Denise, you understood her work and enjoyed it more because of that. I did notice in your review/blog that you described what I did in REDD but described Sartre's work, rather than Denise's choreography and interpretation of Sartre's work, for the most part. Hmmm ... just an observation, draw your own conclusion.
Anyways, I applaud your writing of the review. Keep going to see things that you may or may not enjoy as that is life. One of the differences between art and entertainment is that art may not always be enjoyable.
Oh, and I am sure that the man who said "bravo" was not serious and was probably the same gentleman who commented all the way through, apparently, and made the comment at the end.
This jeering that went on did have an effect on the audience and on the performance. I believe that he should have given money back to the patrons whose "enjoyment" of the performance was stifled by his commenting. I would encourage people to "boo" during the "applause portion" of a performance if they don't like something ... it takes guts to "boo". You are then expressing yourself honestly and openly in front of the performer and also your fellow audience members.
Oh well I don't want to put you to sleep with more of my words, so I'll sign off now.
Thanks again for your comments, they are honest and I appreciate that.
Tedd
Re: REDD
Date: 2007-05-04 01:41 pm (UTC)From:"You did pick up on the fact that I am a city slicker. I moved to the country 2 years ago after living in "downtowns" most of my adult life."
Aha! My powers of deduction are Sherlockian! Heh. I can only wish. But like I said, if I performed some sort of urban piece, I'm sure it would seem somewhat artificial to someone who grew up in that environment. Are you familiar with the Wingfield Farm monologues? The actor (I can't recall his name) does a great job of showing the journey from city slicker to country yokel.
"I did notice in your review/blog that you described what I did in REDD but described Sartre's work, rather than Denise's choreography and interpretation of Sartre's work, for the most part. Hmmm ... just an observation, draw your own conclusion."
I have a much easier time writing about things I don't like than things I do. I'm not sure why this is, but it is something I've noted in myself for quite a few years. I continue to reach for more balance, but it remains elusive.
Also, choreography is something which still remains something of a mystery to me. I've only ever performed improv, and choreography is a new concept for me. As I become more familiar with the choreographic process, I'm sure I'll become better at analyzing it.
The man who jeered was not a gentleman, but an asshole of the first order. I hope he doesn't attempt to ruin more shows for people. I didn't hear any other comments from him throughout the piece, but I was listening very intently to the show and may have tuned them out. If you heard more, then I am sorry for both you and other audience members who had to put up with that jackassery.
"Oh well I don't want to put you to sleep with more of my words."
You have done no such thing.
Re: REDD
Date: 2007-05-04 03:17 pm (UTC)From: (Anonymous)As I said, I enjoyed your candid writings and would leave you with this. If you love a work ... go back and see it again to see what it was that was appealing. AND if you disliked a work ... go back and see what it was that made you react that way. Please go to see some more of my work if you have a chance. What I do for other dancers ... Sasha (being one), Claudia Moore, Yvonne Ng and Robert Glumbeck, Louise Lecavalier, Peggy Baker, and collaborations with Margie Gillis, to name a few ... is quite different from what I do for myself. You may not like them either but you may have a better understanding of your reasons for your lack of enjoyment through seeing them. Hmmm there I go again spouting forth a little more than I meant to.
Anyways, keep up the dance writing. The artform needs all the exposure it can get.
Tedd