Join the dance
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
― Alan W. Watts
In March, I had the opportunity to visit the theater in Delft (Theatre de Veste). I watched the three dance routines choreographed by David Middendorp. All of them had an element of technology attached to them.
The first routine was ‘Three Rooms’ and was my favourite. In this routine, two dancers were involved and one could see them being pulled and pushed by elements from outside the room in view. The dancers first oppose, then surrender and finally get carried away by the external elements. This was an abstract routine and left the interpretation to the observer. The first stage of opposition gave an illusion of three rooms being involved. One room that was depicted on stage. The other two on the two sides of the stage from whose inhabitants or other elements prevented the dancers from entering. As the routine progressed, and the reaction of the dancers to the push and pull changed, one realises that there is just one room. It is the mind of the observer that creates the illusion. One might wonder what element of technology was used here. The choreographer, David, was a dancer but he doesn’t dance anymore. So he choreographs by using a mobile app and drawing lines and curves on it which act as a cue for the performers.
The second routine was ‘A dark Flirt with Gravity’ in which the dancers interact with the drones during the performance. The idea is to depict the co-existence of technology and humans and depict the positive and negative effects of technology on the society. The third routine was ‘Blue Journey’ which depicts a struggle of a girl with herself and with the world. She has a blue shadow and realizes that she is different from others around her. We see how she and the society deal with her shadow.
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