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The Factory

by In Wales Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 06:24:00 AM EST

My flatmate's birthday present for me was a ticket to see Earthfall in their new production - The Factory - at the Wales Millennium Centre.


I should perhaps start with a disclaimer, this is contemporary dance (and so much more) and an entirely subjective experience for each member of the audience.
It is really tough to try to describe the performance and my own interpretation of it because I'm talking about a form of communication that doesn't necessarily use words and nor does it always translate into a coherent description.  But then again, I don't think it is meant to.  It is emotive and visual. The other danger of course, is sounding pretentious when discussing art.

If you like performance art and contemporary dance, I highly recommend it, it was just stunning.  The review in the Guardian puts it much better than I possibly could.

The Factory, Earthfall - review | Cardiff | guardian.co.uk

The Factory is based on Andy Warhol's famous New York studio - the Silver factory - where collaborative creativity fuelled by amphetamine and all the influences of the 60s gave way to an iconic arts movement.

...

Warhol's collaborative nature reflects Earthfall's work - live music, film, spoken word and projected images come together with dance to form layers of media in a mesmerising creative environment.  

Thinking back over it, my brain is making more connections between the performance and what I know of Warhol and his work.  Political statements about the Vietnam war, the projection screens full of psychedelic colours reminiscent of his pop art style, and sexual liberation all knitted together with dance, live music and stunning visuals.  One dancer lifts her top to show drawn on scars across her stomach, connecting me to the work of iconic photographer Richard Avedon whose work I saw in an exhibition in Amsterdam, including a floor to ceiling image of Warhol, his scars and images of other members of the Factory.

As always with dance, I never cease to be amazed by how much and how clearly you can communicate through that medium.  I am deaf so it seems inevitable that I gain the most from visual artforms as opposed to music or spoken word.  But still, it is like suddenly accessing a new language.

One of the things I love about the WMC is that it brings art to the masses and not just to a highly sophisticated, snobby elite.  Performances are much more affordable, you can turn up in jeans, with your family, with your mates, there is a whole array of different styles of entertainment to appeal to many people and it is so important that people can have access to the arts in this way.

All forms of expression are valid and valuable.  I didn't expect contemporary dance to say anything to me when I first saw a performance (Diversions/ National Dance Company Wales) but I was blown away by it, it is an experience I want everybody to have.

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Hands up who likes dance?
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 06:24:26 AM EST
As long as it's Widdicome free....

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 06:39:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Once upon a time I got involved with doing music and video for modern dance. The relationship didn't last long, but I got to see it from the inside.

It's fascinating because there's such a difference between people who are born to do it and are v.v. good, and people who are just noodling around with it and pretending.

I once watched someone rotating their left arm for ten minutes, followed by another ten minutes of meaningless flopping and rolling. I'm not sure if they were Making a Statement or being useless, but they'd been officially funded, and everything.

There was someone else who was so good they convinced me they could fly - not for long, but they were certainly defying gravity in some impossible way that I've never seen anyone else do, before or since.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 06:50:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]
These dancers were incredibly talented.  Some parts of the performance looked like individual spontaneous chaos, but when they did their chaos thing as a group, the pattern emerged, they were totally in tune with each other and the music.

It was just stunning how they could move.  I've seen plenty of people who think they are doing contemporary dance but there is no fluidity or any real awareness of how to move in a way that actually communicates something.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 07:02:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Is this on tour? I may go and see it. :)
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 07:16:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think they are touring still.  Check the earthfall website to see where they will be.
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 08:52:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There was someone else who was so good they convinced me they could fly - not for long, but they were certainly defying gravity in some impossible way that I've never seen anyone else do, before or since.

Sounds like David Parson's Caught.

There are videos around, one is on the link.  They don't convey the awe inspiring beauty of seeing it "for real."

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 12:15:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yea, dance is easy to do, but bloody difficult to do well. When you see the good ones, it blows everything else away.

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Nov 25th, 2010 at 02:44:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Raises hand

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 12:09:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Me

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 12:12:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I like to dance to the techno.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 01:04:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh definitely. But my knee prevents me from being involved these days.

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Nov 25th, 2010 at 02:43:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hand up.

In the Sixties Scene in the SF Bay area, some of the smaller rock venues, such as the Golden Sheaf Bakery in Berkeley, attracted some extraordinarily good dancers, solo and duet. Especially the followers of the Grateful Dead, some of whom evidently put a LOT of time practicing.

Of course, there are professional companies galore, and Cirque de Soleil has some inspired bits, as well as the troupe that dances on building faces and canyon walls.

The surfeit of public television stations and classical fill-ins reveals many dancers from long ago and present. It's a good place to enjoy dance. Even the fog dances over Mt Sutro... and the windsurfers dance across the wavetops...

Align culture with our nature. Ot else!

by ormondotvos (ormond.otvosnospamgmialcon) on Wed Dec 1st, 2010 at 10:28:06 PM EST


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