Poetics: A Ballet Brut

Upon arriving, I was greeted with a sign that read the Roundhouse community centre was closed for construction that day. PANIC! Oh man, I’ve done it again. Somehow I’ve made a mistake and am at the wrong venue. I’ll never get to the right place in time for the show! Oh wait.... there’s the entrance over there by that crowd of people. Disaster averted. As I enter the performance space, crossing the front of the room I felt like I was in the spotlight. The stage lights were already on, as well as the house lights. Little did I know that it would stay this way for the entire performance. The audience was intimate and a little too involved with the performance (we will get to that part later). The show starts with a few performers staring up at the audience and looking intrigued. This caught my attention. Eight minutes more of this and I was beginning to get concerned that this would be the entire show. Although the performance had a slow start, this added to the build up of the show as a whole. I loved this show. Everyday gestures and human movements are synchronized into a major theatre production. It was hilarious. The highlight of the show was where they took out breath spray and began to do ungraceful ballet moves to attempt to catch it in their mouths. At one point, the performers took to the audience in repeating a variation of handshakes, hugs, and kisses on random spectators. My boyfriend was one of these lucky people. He sat there awkwardly as the woman with no shirt that stood over him made him a part of the performance. It was hilarious. For me, the most ironic point of the performance was when a curtain drew up and the audience sees that across the room is the place where the audience would traditionally be sitting: the stadium. Instead, we are sitting on make shift bleachers with fold out chairs. The show ends with dozens of eccentric performers dancing in the stadium seating across from the audience. The show closed with a roar of applause and a standing ovation. A good time was had by all.

Repetition Repetition Repetition

Granville Island. A place surrounded by a large amount of bird feces, as well as a beautiful waterfront, was the venue location for the Push Festival's, "Clark And I." Unlike "The Show Must Go on," I did not experience any feelings of anxiety or fear as this felt like a more comfortable location.

Frustration, Confusion, and Annoyance were just a few of the many different emotions that I went through initially during the night of the performance. At times I wanted to get up and leave since I did not understand the humor of the play, nor did I grasp its premise.

My feelings changed as I began to understand how the play was developing. I appreciated the use of visual affects: Lighting, Moving and Still Photos, Slide Show, Projection Screen, even the man in the bunny suit. Moreover, I enjoyed the bunny man's interaction with the crowd - this kept me awake throughout the show. I also thought the connection between "Old Photo's" with "New Technology," used throughout the development of the play was interesting.

However, I did not particularly like the way the Bunny Man developed his points since it seemed like he kept going and going...much like the Energizer Bunny. While I'm confident a majority of the audience enjoyed the show and the way it unfolded, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Poetics

Saturday night I attended a performance of poetics. In having already seen "The Show Must Go On" Poetics was sadly all too familiar. No words were spoken just a varying levels of movement which turned into dances performed by the two women and two men who took the stages at various times. Poetic had better dancers, better choreography,and overall i would say a better show than "The Show Must Go On" but it was too familiar to feel like I was being exposed to something new.

I didn't understand its relevance, true there were moments it engaged me with humor or funny quirks- like the two recycling depot mascots who picked up the dropped cups. The ballad of sleeping was also entertaining, it depicted our four dancers on the ground rotating in a variety of sleeping positions. At two points the dancers engaged certain members of the crowd in their routine. It was not the same sense of all inclusive performance that "The Show Must Go On" provided.

The finish was great. It had a clear escalation, our four performers were joined by a whole group who joined in the specific dances. A ballet dancer even came out and re-enacted our performers dance as if to give the show a professional validity. It had energy about it. It had a voice. It had a poetic sense about him but it's message that I felt that "The Show Must Go On had already addressed. While Poetics was by far a more engaging and visually appealing as a performance in my mind it shared the stage with "The Show Must Go On" and this isn't for the better.

Torch Relays

I know that we are still a few weeks away from the Olympics, but I had a pretty interesting Olympic experience yesterday. My girlfriend and I went to RBC to set up a new bank account. RBC of course is an official sponsor of the Olympics, so the lobby was littered with Olympic posters and not so catchy adverstising slogans. After sitting in the lobby for half an hour, we finally entered the manager's office and sat down. He proceeded to tell us all about the boxes behind his desk. These in fact were even more decorations to prepare for the torch relay that would proceed through Newport Village. He then, unsolicitated, explained the torch relay situation, including the route, time, and how many people were expected to attend. After this long introduction, he asked us, so are you excited about the Olympics? My girlfriend and I gave our stock answer of "yes." After all how can you say no to a guy that is so excited about the Olympics. He asked us what our favorite events are and what aspects we like about the games. I blurted out that I like the skiing, which I do, and my girlfriend muttered approval of my answer. But in truth, my girlfriend is Australian, hates the snow, and has not once even watched the Winter Olympics. They just aren't important to her and from her perspective, aren't remotely important to most Australians. Now, I like watching some of the games, but all the recent advertising and media hype has really put me off this year. So, no, we are not excited, but seem to perform the role of Vancouver resident, absolutely excited. And this left me wondering, as the bank manager of a huge Olympic sponsor, can this man possibly dislike the Olympics? Is he just performing the role of Olympic sponsor employee? Can he even give his own opinion about the Olympics, or is he contractually obligated to be excited?

So Percussion

Monday night I attended the "So Percussion" performance at the Heritage Hall on Main St. not really knowing what to expect. The pamphlet claimed to create music "that is at turns raucous and touching, barbarous and heartfelt[;]" however, I could not legitimately say that I knew what the word "percussion" meant until I arrived and the quartet began their performance. I will discuss this further later on.
I arrived early in order to get a good seat. I was immediately captivated by the ambiance of the old building which used to be a post office. The shadowy entrance and dim lighting followed by the cascading dark drapes allowed for me to imagine a time long ago passed. As soon as I sat down, a gentleman, who I assumed to be one of the performers, came into the large, darkened hall gingerly carrying a taupe coloured, clay flower pot in the palm of his hand. I assumed that the flower pot was filled with water since he was carrying it with such care. Interestingly, he began to tune the flower pot by tapping on it and quickly comparing it to the sound of the other flower pots paintakingly positioned nearby. To satisfy my curiosity, I got up to look inside the flower pots and found them empty and not filled with water as I had assumed earlier. I continued to scrutinize the instruments and sat back down to wearily watch the audience members arrive.
Later, four middle-aged women arrived and sat down behind me putting an end to my boredom. In loud whispers, they eagerly discussed how attractive the men in the hall were while giggling like school girls.
Soon thereafter, the performance began with the quartet clapping in unison to the beat of 3, 1, 2, 3. To hear it is to believe it. I was in awe of their abilities. Their heads were bowed in concentration, nodding to each other once in a while. It was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, my admiration did not extend to their next performance which entailed the playing of monotonous notes on a mini synthesizer accompanied by the constant shaking of a maraca. The constant shaking of the maraca was mind numbing and I felt like I was being put into a trance.
The marimba performance came next and was slightly more entertaining. I just sat back, closed my eyes and imagined that I was in the Caribbean.
Their final performance involved steel pipes and drums. I was fascinated by the quartet's ability to synchronize their movements. Each performer had two percussion sticks in one hand and one in the other while playing both instruments at the same time. The sound was not unpleasant; however, it left my ears ringing and I noticed that quite a few audience members moved to the perimeter of the hall. I think they were conveying the same feelings I was.
The night concluded with the quartet teaching the audience how to clap. Not surprisingly, I failed miserably. I simply could not keep up with the 3, 1, 2, 3 beat.
All in all, it was not a bad night. I did not feel that any of the music was either "heartfelt" or "touching[;]" however, "raucous" is the perfect descriptive word for a night filled with diverse sounds that I had never been exposed to before.

Vancouver City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xMz2SnSWS4

Amazing Time Lapse Clip of Vancouver.

Thoughts?