The Blue Man Show

Yesterday I went to see the Blue Man Group.
I never really seen them performing before so I didn’t know what to expect, except that it was supposed to be very, very good. I have to admit I had a bit higher expectations for this widely acclaimed show but it was good and worth seeing.

I was stunned how simple (but clever) tricks made people laugh… The audience was going crazy seeing actors’ simple moves and gestures. I realized that you don’t need to do much to make people laugh. Simplicity is the key. The only think the actors had to do was to move funny, not to talk and not to smile… Actually not smiling and keeping their face straight made blue men look exotic and like aliens and maybe that’s why people loved it so much.?

However, I was impressed with the great actors-audience interaction. Without spoken words the blue men were able to communicate and capture the audience. They knew how to work and they made audience be part of the whole show.

For me, Blue Men were also good in creating and building anticipation. Many times during  the show I was thinking: “what are they going to do now…, are they really going to do it”…?”

While watching the show I was thinking about Charlie Chaplin and how he too was able to communicate, entertain and tell stories using only movement, gesture and sound.  I realized  that you don’t need many “ingredients” to create a powerful and thrilling show. You just need the right combination…..
It also reminded me that I often forget how important is sound to the whole experience….

Another important element of the show was getting audience to move and awakening their “touch” senses. I don’t want to give away too much and not to ruin it for people who haven’t seen it before, but I have to say that was the high point of the show… (Although it make me think about waste…. I hope they do recycle…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RamNJn9jXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM-mfEMssy8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqinuidaj-E

What female want and male will do

“What female want and male will do” -that’s a title of a 2 part program from Nature/PBS about the most complex sexual behaviours of animals. I flipped through TV channels yesterday night and stopped by accident on this program (part I). I was fascinated with the topic and complexity of nature. Check the program listing and watch it- it’s funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n43eAC8H9Hc

They showed was many interesting scientific details about how animals behave and how their bodies’ structure help them mate or how it may make it more difficult..

Because of my interests in dance and movement I was enchanted by the Riflebird’s dance. In case of that kind of bird the male has to performing a special dance to get the female. (Humans do that too but in a different way I think, not by “dance” but by presenting other things…)

Here is a video of Rifle Bird I found on you tube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PVUCF3vJQA

and other birds dancing:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v8MRXAXEtFM

Contact Improvisation

Merry Conway also suggested I looked at Contact Improvisation. That was a great tip! Seems that this dance trend was very popular in 70’s and has been evolving since. I’m still researching and finding new things about movement, dance and social interaction today.

This is the best description I found:
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What is Contact Improvisation? by Ernie Adams

Contact Improvisation is a moving massage. It is a dance that fine tunes your senses and wakes up your ability to listen and respond to what is happening in the moment. If you could do Aikido, surf, wrestle and dance at the same time, you would have an idea of what Contact Improvisation feels like. What makes Contact different from other dance is that partners are often moving in and out of physical contact while rolling, spiraling, springing and falling. They find ways to “enjoy the ride” and improvise while mutually supporting and following each others movements. The dancing is unpredictable and inspired by the physical and energetic contact the partners share.

Ernie Adams, Berkeley, CA, email: enadams at movementpathways dot com

http://www.earthdance.net/contactdefinition.htm
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Everybody’s talking about PILOBOLUS

Everybody is talking about PILOBOLUS. That’s because they are great! What they do is very bold, creative and expressive. I can only imagine reaction of my classmates if I would ask them to perform something similar during my Square Game

See their performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NgPA8Daxd8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOZ6KnVPvIU

http://www.pilobolus.com/

Dancing-texture

I have been thinking about dance little bit more. Inthe ballet I was concentrated more on the “negative space”. I found a good example of body creating rich and powerful lines and textures of gesture and clothing. It kind of ties with my interest of being able to see everything vs. not being able to see all details (screens, veils, etc.).
This is an example:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/god1/ho_1972.118.95.htm

Statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, Hellenistic, 3rd–2nd century B.C.
Greek
Bronze; H. 8 1/16 in. (20.5 cm)
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM NEW YORK: The complex motion of this dancer is conveyed exclusively through the interaction of the body with several layers of dress. Over an undergarment that falls in deep folds and trails heavily, the figure wears a lightweight mantle, drawn tautly over her head and body by the pressure applied to it by her right arm, left hand, and right leg. Its substance is conveyed by the alternation of the tubular folds pushing through from below and the freely curling softness of the fringe. The woman’s face is covered by the sheerest of veils, discernible at its edge below her hairline and at the cutouts for the eyes. Her extended right foot shows a laced slipper. This dancer has been convincingly identified as one of the professional entertainers, a combination of mime and dancer, for which the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria was famous in antiquity.

Next Generation-Boston Ballet

Yesterday I went to see a show at the Boston Ballet. It was called the “Next Generation” – it was choreographed by the hottes, youngest choreographers from around the world.

I had perfect seat, first row in orchestra section, so I could see the stage floor from little bit of bird’s view. I was able to see some of the marks and lines projected on the dance floor, which exactly marked points on the stage for the dancers. It made me think about my project with color squares….

Anyway, the show was great!!!! Amazing choreography, music, interpretation, lighting, colors and men and women dancing, jumping, crawling, moving fast….
Living sculptures… what else could I’ve asked for?

I realized, that ballet is about making shapes with human body, and maybe that’s why I like when people in my games ” collide with each other”, to make those unique shapes…. In the ballet, both body shapes and the negative space they create are very important. I’ve seen many ballets before but this time there was more emphasis put on men’s figures rather than on women’s, and I thought it was very original and beautiful.

It also seemed to me that these modern choreographers introduced new language of moves and gestures. Some moves were chaotic but others controlled, and some reminded me of frog and fish… The show seemed smooth, fast but even with jumping and pirouettes the dancers looked like they were “swimming” on the stage….

(more to come..)

Pictures from the Boston Ballet: