Pressespiegel 2009

DOCK 11 Pressespiegel 2009
Dock 11, Berlin, August 2009
Performers try to engage the audience actively but they seldom dare more than
sporadic and symbolic actions. Ambitious companies, including one which has a
budget of several millions and regards itself as a leader in modern dance, so far
failed in such attempts.
Tomi Paasonen found a recipe that works: Remove distance by placing
performers and audience into the same space, start slowly, get people used to
interacting, intensify it gradually and see how far you can go. WOW YES is a
proof of the concept.
The stage in Dock11 was filled with 50 randomly scattered chairs while the area where the
audience normally sits was empty. Tomi Paasonen was already sitting in a chair close to a wall
while people oozed in. Eventually the room was full but nothing happened. Five minutes, ten
minutes... The audience started chatting.
waiting
Suddenly the lights went off, loud music blasted the room and spotlights started flashing random
spots. After fifteen seconds the sound vanished (no music any more for the whole evening) and
the ceiling lights were on again. Now the room was quiet (the purpose of the intermezzo) and we
heard loud breathing coming from the back of the stage. Two performers disguised as members of
the audience were groaning, coughing and gasping for air in their chairs as if they were struggling
to breath in a pungent atmosphere.
The breathing got louder. Simo Kellokumpu and Justin Kennedy stood up and walked among the
audience, prompting people to exchange their chairs. They used gestures and words "yes" and
"wow". "Yes?" accompanied requests, "wow" expressed satisfaction and gratitude. Gradually the
interaction grew more physical and intimate. The performers pushed chairs with people sitting in
them and even carried them around. They touched legs and shoulders of the people, threw
themselves into laps, asked women for their jewelry, and made people help them take off their
shirts. One of the highlights was when Justin Kennedy laid down on the lap of a young Asian lady
and prompted her to slap his buttock. She did not want to. He used body language to persuade
her, slapping his buttock repeatedly with his own hand while still lying on her lap. Eventually she
did, and was awarded by an applause.
interaction with audience
In the middle of the piece the performers removed some chairs to form a narrow corridor in the
middle of the stage and presented a series of duos on fighting: a cockfight, duel of knights with
swards, fighting with revolvers, machine guns, hand grenades... The term pantomime is rarely used
in contemporary performance, probably because it is associated with white makeup and loose
trousers. The emphasis on facial expression in modern performance gave birth to a different
pantomime, which is intense and physical, goes without makeup and is not completely barred of
speech. Yet it is still mime art or pantomime. Simo Kellokumpu and Justin Kennedy are not just
excellent performers and dancers, they are also superb mimes. Their vivid performance lasted for