As you know Madame Bulgaria became a part of Antistatic International Festival for contemporary Dance and Performance in Sofia from the 12th to the 20th May. As member of the team, I was invited to taste the « goods » and choose the performance ROMANTIC AFTERNOON* Concept and choreography.
The performance ROMANTIC AFTERNOON* Concept and choreography by Verena Billinger & Sebastian Schulz (Germany), taking place the 18th May in Sofia, together with their newer choreography “Violent Event”, are two of their most awarded productions. About the representation : « Kisses in public are close, deep, cuddling, fleeting, passionate. We are looking at them and we scrutinize ourselves – they provoke spontaneous empathy, voyeurism, shame, defensive reaction. They affect us, we interpret the poses, assume some feelings. Kisses become signs that we read, but cannot decode. We are only left with speculations about strangers, with physical impression and with our ambivalent reaction. “Romantic Afternoon*” is a choreography for a group of six people, who are constantly kissing. They wrap arms around each other, hold hands, change positions and partners. They use gestures for emotions that do not exist, take on poses and simulate intimacy. They provoke artificial affects and create conditions, void of feelings where nothing is certain. As an excessive machine of expression « Romantic afternoon » makes use of the mechanisms of the staging and staged public space and asks about the conditions for the possibility of real emotions ».
My Feedback : We’ve all seen people who kiss on the street, but have you ever watched them thoroughly… ? Have you ever watched you kissed with someone…? This performance will give you this chance for almost a hour and without you feel as a Voyeur. They represent the kiss in its other dimension, and perhaps what is happening behind the scenes of this simply beautiful act. Fear, curiosity, passion, betrayal, desire, sometimes anger and many others, in a whirlpool of bodies. After the end, we had a very good chat with the all crew and we understood, that the » actors » did not know each other before, but after so much kissing they quickly became best friends. That an hour of kissing is not tiring unless someone is not well shaved. And that this is just their job.
Well done job, I would say !
More : About the Festival, read our first article / antistaticfestival.org / Warm up : zefirov.blogspot.bg
