Contemporary Dance in Greece

1980: A PIECE BY PINA BAUSCH (Avgi newspaper, 2001)

1980: A PIECE BY PINA BAUSCH One of the most eagerly awaited events in the calendar of the Athens Festival, was the performance by the Pina Bausch group “Dancetheatre of Wuppertal” who presented “1980: A piece by Pina Bausch” (8 & 9 July). The capacity audience who attended Herod Atticus Theatre, unusual numbers for such a spectacle, was divided between fierce critics of “1980” and in its fanatical supporters. The increased numbers of spectators and the two polarised reactions to the work can be explained to a whole host of reasons, one of which must be the misunderstanding about the genre which is internationally known as “Tanztheater” and with Bausch’s work in particular. “Tanztheater” is the creation of a generation of choreographers who were born during the second world war; through their works, they restored the bonds with the innovative and pioneering artists of the years between the wars. Pina Bausch, Reinhild Hoffmann, Hans Kresnik, Suzanne Linke, Gerhard Bonner developed, modified, reorganised and transformed many aspects of the performances that were staged by the choreographers of the “Ausdruckstanz” (expressionist dance) in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Choreographers and dancers, some of whom left for England or the USA and some remained, were forgotten after the war as remnants of a suspect era which should not be talked about in Adenauer’s years. This is the time during which the German society follows and promotes the “ballet without memory” and marginalizes modern dance. The experimentations of Rudolf Laban, the feminist subversions of Mary Wigman or the caustic social comments of Kurt Jooss (equal to a paint by Gross or Kirchner) were unwelcome. The first two artists along with Gret Palluca and Harald Kreuzberg had choreographed the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 1936 (there are no films of Laban’s in the German archives even today). The naked bodies, the vision of a new freedom intertwined with a move to return to nature, the idealised artists’ communities such as Monte Verità near Asconna, the experiments with large groups of people (“Bewegungschore”), the satisfaction of a tendency to flight in the recall of an archaic and traditional relationship between Germans and nature, became semiotic references of a past that should be condemned and consigned to oblivion. Kurt Jooss, the most socially conscious of the representatives of the AusdrucksTanz, returns to Essen in 1949 to form the FolkwangSchule which exists to date. This is the school which produced most of the artists of the TanzTheater; one of them is Pina Bausch. In lay terms, Dancetheatre is a type of a dance spectacle in which speech-narration- and music are interlinked according to the model of the Chorus, or rather the renaissance models, echoes of which were used in a modified form later to serve revivals and viewpoints about ancient drama. Therefore, speech is considered as the core feature which accompanies and protects the flow and logical progress of the dance. Outside Greece, there have occurred some very significant differentiations in the use and function of the movement, the music and of course speech and give Dancetheatre its main characteristics. These are the denial of realism, often through marginally truthful images, and the dissolution of the linearity of the narrative. At first glance, the simplification of the move motifs, especially during the first period of the Dancetheatre until the end of the ‘80s and the usage of daily movements (walking, sitting, waving, hugging and so on) gives a false sense of nothing much going on. The words, spoken at certain important sections of the performance, articulated correctly and carefully, in context with the action as well as the assumed character of the person who speaks the phrases or the songs. However, when we focus on what goes on on stage, and here we are only interested in Pina Bausch, we will recognize that things are not as they seem….Following careful observation, we realize that in reality the words are spoken at the wrong time by the wrong people. Thus, not only is reality broken down but also there is an opportunity to show other aspects of the person who speaks, overturning the initial ideas that we may have formed about him or her. Being unable to speak correctly, the man reveals obsessions, introversion, an unnatural infantilism in his behaviour, and most importantly, unfulfilled wishes which can not emerge otherwise but only through the shattered speech which makes him loose oneself in the magic of the nonsensical phrases which he pronounces with admiration or curiosity. Full of curiosity, then, he tries to explain, to fill the void with a new phrase, which however, takes him even further into the abyss of incomprehension with his own self and the others, ending in a Babel with comic and unforeseen conferences. The beings who circulate on stage are unable to communicate, despite their speech being syntactically and grammatically correct. The respect afforded to the building blocks of speech is exaggerated, intensifying the irony for security, the distance and happiness which the speech is a guarantor of when logic fails or rather when its boundaries are shown to be narrow and inflexible. “I speak therefore I know who I am” is one of the most basic precepts which Pina Bausch subverts with caustic irony, occasionally with bitterness and innocent humour. In “1980”three and a half hours are spent watching reminiscences like rifling through an old photographic album or cleaning out a room that has been vacated. A scene at the beach looks much like a painting by George Seurat but does not render itself to further analysis (the scene exaggerates the neurotic intention of the people who sunbathe to expose some parts or to cover them up), coexists with scenes of birthdays, trials of burials (the couple who dance in a deep embrace, the woman immovable in the hands of the man on a piece of stage that has been cleaned from the grass that covered it at the beginning) and so on. (There are of course many other issues that emerge from Pina Bausch’s multidimensional work, such as the implicit comment on the conventions of the spectacle). The lack of continuity is a very important part of the work precisely like its opposite, the reconciliation with it. In watching Pina Bausch, the audience must forget their wish for linear commentary and to grasp the lack of continuity, the time travel, the arbitrary condensation of past and future. For example in “1980” the lonely birthday of the woman who sings “Happy birthday to me” may function as memory (past) but also as a thought for the future (lonely birthdays to come). The music is a collage of sounds, rhythms, children songs interspersed with long periods of silence and acts as the background against which the false reality of Pina Bausch is staged. Is her work-in the wide sense-political? Pina Bausch herself denies it, finding refuge in the statement (but there is not any political comment nor references to politics in my work”. Despite her protestations, one could suggest the opposite. Away from the decorative perception of the reformed and at a distance form the violent accusations of Hans Kresnik or the feminist isolation of Reinhild Hoffmann, Pina Bausch studies in depth and detail the characters of her works, ending up in complex images of her personal positions, widely known of human behaviour and part observations taken from scenes of daily life. Bausch follows the dictates of her English teacher Anthony Tudor (during her short stay in the USA in the 60s) as well as the manner of analysis and detailed observation of the social network of her other teacher, Kurt Jooss, but at the end she decomposes, cuts them in pieces and takes away their plausibility, so that she can regurgitate them for the audience in a narrative format which is consistent with the human being’s lack of knowledge of him- or herself. Her critique of the social conventions, the life style, the idea of happiness is caustic and intense. Hypocrites, with good intentions, living in false conditions of knowledge which can tumble down at any time, uncertain and clumsy, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, her heroes, are vulnerable and imperfect, big clingy babies in adult costumes and roles. These are images which can bring about sadness, melancholy, pain and may start up in the audience personal issues which can in turn be distressing. In Bausch works, one must be alert for what appears at first to be simplistic and easy fun and strange angles of the human body. These tricks are metaphors for the ignorance and miscommunication. Often during one of her plays, members of the audience walk out, or try to find a way to deal with the emotional burden experienced during the performance. In such times, laughter, even embarrassed, can be a valuable ally. The laughter which can guard off the cruelty of a process of recognition.

DOMINANT IDEOLOGIES in GREEK DANCE

In the last 20 years or so, Greek dance has not only been trying to experience what was -prematurely named- its "Spring-time" and "rebirth", but to also survive through opposing ideologies and ideas, primarily focusing on: "how to save art", "how to make art (dance) profitable", "how to export art (dance)".
Centres of political power, guessing that this might be a field of power interplay, joined in with no knowledge and yet via actions and decrees; furthermore in no consistent way, blending traditional political practices (clientele, favoring this or that group et.c.) with sparse innovations (for Greece) like upgrading of certain institutions, inauguration of practices as seen abroad et.c.).

Meanwhile, in the real "battleground" that has been and still is, real life and art, there appeared "art-saving" ideologies or ideologemmes emerging from various sources outdated or not: hellenism, visions of balletic regeneration/rebirth, the French example, the British example the New York example and so on. There have been opposing suggestions as to how to: upgrade education, change education, re-create education; and,what should "new" education attain/aim at; plus whom and why subsidies should be given to and many more, not necessarily cumulatively or in that order, or very well and clearly articulated, and mostly as an interplay between sub-groups and state power.

One might say, well that's not unusual or unheard of, especially in unsettled neo-post-colonial circumstances. However, in the unsettled battleground of ideologies, one issue that rarely was addressed and remains unresolved concerns professional ethics. This is not meant to be a moralistic approach, au contraire, what is at stake when ethical conduct does not form part of the agenda of a certain group (which does interfere in the formation of strategies, and has a strong public profile -for all sorts of reasons), then a danger of possible manipulation of weaker sub-groups may arise, and/or the use of such groups for promoting a very personal -but hidden agenda.

It is out of the question for the writer of this article as well as for many dance practitioners (with whom many random discussions but also interviews have been conducted), to have critics -for example, one acting powerful professional group, who on the one hand report and comment on performances and on the other hand work for and promote the work of one or more dance groups. This creates confusion, uncertainty within the artistic community and does not help at all to promote clear strategies. Everyone thinks that "nothing can be done," "nothing changes in terms of ethics", "that everyone helps out their friends and if you play fair you are a sucker, big time". It is depressing in the long-term and has a negative effect in the morale of the community, while it affects its motivation towards problem solving and self-respect.

"Mixed practices", as we might call the above mentioned attitude (as well as others of similar/analogous nature) more mildly, further help to sustain a certain tendency to dependence: upon power structures, wherever these come from and regardless to whom they are affiliated with, and/or groups that may be in power. They also disincline people/artists from standing up for their rights (payments, insurance et.c.) because they believe "that the game is set and we are used as pawns in it". They also believe that they should not talk or express their disagreement "because "they" form a powerful structure and we shall be out of business", while if they synchronize their "pace" to the "irrational", proto-institutional structures, they "might get a job, or other help, because life is difficult and (we) do not want to play heroes". This although they believe that "in the long run, it is better to stick to one's guns", but "at the moment of choice, friends who have joined such groups and other sources of pressure, that is family,others professionals, tend to control [our] decisions".

Therefore, very often, arts communities, dance as is the case here, tend to acquire a profile and move according to the ideology of the power structure that has the closest link to institutional authorities/academia/the Press and so on thus imposing its will. It may offer work or promises via a circle of docile "bodies", exhibiting a possibility of stability and power that in reality is saved for its close circle of affiliates, in a Mafia-like way of functioning.
The community assimilates claims of agendas that might otherwise not have been its own. For example, while education may be important, a dominant group's agenda may claim better conditions in exporting art/dance. It is seductive, it is necessary, but it may be unattainable at a given moment (-while a different set of decisions may resolve this very problem0. Nonetheless no strategy in regard to real needs and consistent strategies may be studied and agreed upon, as the pace to power of a specific power structure/group is in need of the "talk" about "exporting Greek dance", because it is the stepping-stone to another (hidden) target in its agenda.

Therefore, attention should be paid to practices that not only do not help promote Greek dance, for example, but underline alienation and show the crudest face of power imposed upon artistic communities. If we can already talk about the abstract structure and function of power, a form that should be conceived as close to forms of violence (manipulation, dependence marginalization and abuse through poverty and exclusion if not direct threats), then dance in Greece moved quickly to its stagnation and its stripping of regenerating powers much too early. Like a long winter without -a much awaited for- Spring.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER, ATHENS 25/11/2011

Το Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, εμφανίστηε -για πολλοστή φορά- στην Αθήνα, με τα έργα Shards του Donald Byrd, Splendid Isolation της Jessica Lang, The Hunt του Robert Battle, και φυσικά το κλασικό αριστούργημα revelations (1960) του Alvin Ailey.

Τα Shards, ήταν μια προβολή στο χώρο και το χρόνο της μίξης του Ailey και του Cunningham, ιδίως του έργου Duets του τελευταίου. Με τη δράση διάσπαρτη σε διάφορα σημεία της σκηνής, με ντουέτα στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος που εναλλάσσονταν, αλλά και τον λυρισμό και την αθλητικότητα που αποτέλεσαν σήμα κατατεθέν του ύφους του Ailey, ήταν το καλύτερο "άνοιγμα" της βραδιάς: νέο αίμα στην ομάδα με αξιοποίηση της παράδοσης. Ατυχώς, δεν ενθουσίασε το κοινό, που μάλλον εξεπλάγη, ιδίως με τη μουσική συνοδεία.
Το απόσπασμα (σόλο) από το Splendid Isolation, ήταν εξαιρετικό, με ένα περίτεχνο άσπρο φόρεμα της χορεύτριας, που "έγραφε" πάνω στο φόντο, και τη συνοδεία της 5ης συμφωνίας του Μάλερ. Τώρα κατά πόσο ο τίτλος έγινε κατανοητός ή ήταν συμβατός με το έργο, αυτό μένει να το δει κανείς, καθώς Splendid Isolation, ήταν όρος που επινόησε ο Ντισραέλι τον 19ο αι. και αφορούσε στη Βρετανική πολιτική της εποχής. Προφανώς το να μένει κανείς αμέτοχος στα γεγονότα, μέσα στην πάλευκη αγνότητα της ενδεχόμενης άγνοιάς του, δεν εγγυάται τα καλύτερα αποτελέσματα. Το Hunt, ήταν ένας χορός έξι ανδρών με μαύρες παντελόνες σε ύφος σαμουράϊ, ήχο κρουστών που ανάσταινε και νεκρούς, και προφανώς αποτέλεσε ένα σχόλιο πάνω στη σκοτεινή πλευρά του ανθρώπου που αθώα αναδύεται στο κυνήγι, αλλά που μπορεί και να αποτελεί προάγγελο κακών όταν παραμένει "σκοτεινή" και ελεύθερη.
Φυσικά αποκορύφωμα ήταν το κλασικό αριστούργημα του μοντέρνου ρεπερτορίου, οι Revelations του Ailey. Θα πρέπει να ήταν όντως Αποκάλυψη το 1960 που πρωτοπαρουσιάστηκε, όσο κι αν σήμερα μας φαίνονται αυτονόητα όσα λέει, ενδεχομένως και υπερβολικά αθώα για την εποχή μας. Στην εποχή που ίσχυαν ακόμη οι διαχωρισμοί (segregation), το να επικαλεστεί κανείς σκηνές από βουντού, εκκλησίες των μαύρων, θρησκευτικά τραγούδια, και εν γένει να καλέσει τους μαύρους προγόνους ως ισότιμους των λευκών θεατών στη σκηνή, ήταν καταφανώς ένα ζήτημα. Μέσα στη ραπ κουλτούρα και τα μεταγενέστερα μουσικά ρεύματα και την ταύτιση -και διαμαρτυρία ταυτόχρονα γι' αυτό- του μαύρου με τον παράνομο ή τον Good Man Friday, ο Alvin Ailey μπορεί να φάνηκε κάποια εποχή γραφικός ή ξεπερασμένος, καθώς ασχολήθηκε με τον καημό και την περηφάνια να είσαι μαύρος, με μάλλον διπλωματικό τρόπο. Εντωμεταξύ, το mingling με τους λευκούς πέρασε από σραάντα κύματα, το ίδιο και όσοι είχαν θυσιάσει μια πιο ρεαλιστική εικόνα, για το λυρισμό των φαντασμάτων της εποχής των σκλάβων.
Η Αφρική του Ailey όμως, είναι εκείνη των Αφρο-Αμερικανών, οπότε επί της ουσίας η τέχνη του, είναι ό,τι πιο ζωτικό έχει να παρουσιάσει ο χορός στην πεriοχή του αιτήματος για ενσωμάτωση και διεκδίκηση ισονομίας. Ο Ailey δεν παραιτείται, αλλά διεκδικεί την αμερικανική του ταυτότητα, και οι επίγονοι ή άλλοι δημιουργοί που χορογραφούν για το συγκρότημά του, το λαμβάνουν υπ' όψιν τους, αν κρίνουμε από το ύφος των έργων τους, που έστω σε ψήγματα πάντοτε υπενθυμίζουν τις ρίζες του συγκροτήματος και του δημιουργού του.

©


Synopsis of the review:

Ailey's works, a true master of neo-expressionist dance, with great lyricism and a flair for spectacle, are always a pleasurable and welcoming event. Revelations, despite their old age, manage to stir the emotion in me, plus they make me think on race issues afresh. It is the mastery of the art and craft of an old grand master that probably does the trick. As for Hunt and Pleasant Isolation, they both do justice to the robust and lyrical performers of the company as well as its tradition, while offering contemporary perspectives to today's audiences.