Sunday, May 13, 2018

review . dressing in disguise by Nayana Bhat



aks
Maayan Reiter
A woman, dressed in party-wear, imitates the casual poses of the audiences around her. Two women are dressed like men, engaging in aggressive sexual behaviour. One woman suggests secretively to the other that she is forced to choose to become a prostitute.

A woman, bound by plastic wrapping all around her, struggles as she gets out of her prison. Another plays the role of a rapper/rockstar, sits under the sign “My gender in Nirvana”, sings popular songs, increasing in pace, losing her breath, completely exhausting herself. 

Jo Hermann
Unita Gay Galiluyo's latest choreographic work “Dressing in Disguise”, created under the artistic direction of Andrea K. Schlehwein, as a part of NETZWERK AKS, is an amalgamation of symbolism and raw images. 

With this work, the artistes touch several socio-political topics, including gender politics, racism, class, and religion, while unmasking the various masks people wear in an attempt to fit in, to proclaim their identities. 

Jo Hermann
Jo Hermann
The overall atmosphere of the work is dark and intense. 
The piece performed at ART SPACE stift millstatt was extensive in its spatial offering. The performance started off at the foyer, the space marked with various direction signs. As the work progressed, the performance moved frantically and sometimes in an apparent chaos on to the other rooms in the stift. At times in the kitchen, in the bathroom some other times, in the little studio, and in the big performance space – the performers “ate” the space as they moved on with countless gestures and social codes. 
  
Jo Hermann
The theme of the work was beautifully adapted into a set-design by Andrea K. Schlehwein. An example that comes to mind is when dancer Andrea Maria Handler does her pop-music scene under the sign 

Jo Hermann
"My gender in Nirvana”. There are three chairs placed under this sign and the dancer sits on each chair and does a number each from different pop-artists. She embodies the physicality of hip-hop dancers or rappers, dressed in a similar manner. As she continues to repeat her singing at an increasing speed, she practically runs from one chair to another, losing her breath, exhausting herself, still trying to keep up her cool facade. This state, in contrast to the sign above “My gender in Nirvana”, is quite the irony, as the performer is being stripped off her “cool” mask. 

“Dressing in Disguise” offers several of these moments of undressing, allowing the audience to contemplate on the zillion masks we wear on a daily basis. 
Maayan Reiter
Maayan Reiter
The music used is minimal, almost like soundscapes. It would be important to note that this performance was held in juxtaposition to another collaborative exhibition in ART SPACE stift millstatt.  Photographs and paintings by artist Romana Egartner in collaboration with an installation by Andrea K. Schlehwein. The exhibitions will continue to remain open for public, while the performance had the last of its three shows on the 7th of May

Maayan Reiter
As an audience, it is exciting and positively overwhelming to witness works at ART SPACE stift millstatt, thanks to the abundance of creative works you encounter. Often, there are multiple projects at display, and sometimes they belong together and at times, not. 

aks
In either cases, you as an audience get a chance to observe and experience the works from all these perspectives, being touched by artistic impulses.

“Dressing in disguise” is scheduled to perform in Freiburg, Germany in 2019.

Text by Nayana Bhat

Credits
dressing in disguise 
Unita Gay Galiluyo + NETZWERK AKS  I  Platform for Contemporary Dance + Art
Dance: Andrea Maria Handler . Simona Piroddi
Scenography + Artistic Direction: Andrea K. Schlehwein 
Assistant to AKS: Maayan Reiter
Location: ART SPACE stift millstatt . Austria
https://www.artspace-stiftmillstatt.com/

Production: büro für tanz I theater I produktionen 2018


Saturday, May 5, 2018

review: accumulation # shivering by Nayana Bhat


accumulation # shivering


Two women are sitting on a window sill. They look almost alike, but almost not at all. They wait until the audience settles down, and step down, walking to the opposite sides of the space. Watching each other, almost like being drawn to each other, they slowly move towards the other. As they advance, they are being possessed by an uncontrollable shiver, a shake that seems to emerge from the inside. It takes over the two of them, the room. As the audience watches the effect of this tremor on them, they notice how it possesses the two of them differently, spinning one off on a frenzy of shivering, while the other continues to shake and move about. They arrive at a shivering climax, and lay on the floor for a bit. Until the next round of shivering frenzy takes them over. And so on it goes.


The newest work from AKS titled “accumulation # shivering” created for Schau.Räume initiative in Spittal/Drau was premiered on the evening of 26th of April.

In this particular work, as part of a broad series, artist Andrea K. Schlehwein deals with the different states of aggregation of the human being. 'accumulation # shivering' is about an inner tremor that starts barely perceptible in your own inner world and penetrates steadily outward.



Dancers Maayan Reiter and Margherita Malinconi perform the work with an inherently driven fury. They interpret the movements quite differently and complementary to each other. Their differing movement qualities set them apart as characters, almost like sisters, or partners, seeking consolation in each other's touch and proximity in order to escape the inner tremor. They relate to each other like animals in a cage trying to escape the captivity, and losing the battle each time. The piece ends with an apparent relief, where the two give up on this battle, walk up to the lights, switch them off and open the windows for a whiff of fresh air.

 

The 15-minute piece works on a relatively simple trajectory. The atmosphere is tense, the movements swinging in high intensity between being violent and tender. From the past works of AKS I have observed, this quality of high physical intensity seems to be her signature.



The context of the performance is also an interesting one. The performance format Schau.Räume deals with taboo and marginalized topics. Vacant buildings of a city are recorded and researched. The result is performative labs that are intended to facilitate meeting spaces through artistic research and participation. “Accumulation # shivering” was invited and created for this format.

The evening consisted of three intermittent shows, with full house audiences each time.

 by Nayana Bhat


CREDITS

Andrea K. Schlehwein+
NETZWERK AKS  I  Platform for Contemporary Dance + Art

Dance
Margherita Malinconi
Maayan Reiter


upcoming performances

10.  I  11.  I  12.  I 14.  I  15. August 2018
@ART SPACE stift millstatt . AUSTRIA
 

Production: büro für tanz | theater | produktionen