German dance group closes Art Summit festival<\/p>\n
By C.G. Asmara<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The curtain closed on the ambitious and well-
\nattended Art Summit Indonesia l995 on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12 with
\nperformances of the dance Highland, choreographed by Joachim
\nSchlomer and performed by the Deutsches National Theater's Weimar
\nTanztheater.<\/p>\n
After 15 performances by contemporary dance and music groups
\nfrom nine countries, this German dance group provided a notable
\nclose to the prestigious 20-day festival. It was an outstanding
\nperformance that, along with its musical score or \"soundscape\",
\noffered, not only an unique interpretation of life in the
\nScottish Highlands, but also an exploration of gesture and
\ncharacterization.<\/p>\n
Highland is Schlomer's newest work. It premiered on Sept. 10,
\nl995, in Weimar. Aged 35, Schlomer assumed the leadership of the
\nDeutsches National Theater in Weimar during the l994\/1995 season.
\nBetween 1988 and 1991 he was a dancer with Mark Morris at the
\nTheatre de la Monnaie, Brussels. In l990, he formed his first
\ngroup, the Companie Josch, touring throughout Europe. In l993, he
\nattracted the attention of the legendary Mikail Baryshnikow, who
\ncommissioned two works by Schlomer for his White Oak Dance
\nTheater.<\/p>\n
With the sound of crashing stones, the house lights were
\ndimmed in the Graha Bhakti Budaya auditorium of the Taman Ismail
\nMarzuki arts center in Central Jakarta. Fluorescent light was
\nthen brought up on stage, revealing an elegant woman in a black
\ndress. A puff of smoke from stage left gave the impression of
\ndust from falling stones, only to be transformed into car exhaust
\nfumes as the sound of traffic blared from the large bank of
\nspeakers on either side of the stage.<\/p>\n
Slowly the woman began to walk up and down stage, following a
\nline of fallen leaves that divided the stage in two. The focus
\nwas drawn to her feet, as she walked with a gray brick-like stone
\nunder each foot. Holding on to each brick was a man in a suit,
\ncrouching behind her.<\/p>\n
Throughout the 75-minute performance of Highland, the 15
\ndancers created a landscape of characters and situations that
\ncontrasted everyday urban life with pastoral dreams of peace and
\nunity with nature.<\/p>\n
Relying on detailed explorations of the body to express
\ncharacter, each dancer concentrated on a specific part of his or
\nher body -- most often legs and feet -- which resulted in a way
\nof walking and moving unique to each dancer. As a result, the
\nchoreography was at times highly subtle, almost repetitive; such
\nas when a couple, with their backs to the audience, wriggled
\ntheir toes along the floor, or when a female dancer, whose feet
\nappeared swollen, shuffled across the stage.<\/p>\n
Yet these explorations worked and, along with varied costumes
\nand props, such as flowers and a red plastic raincoat that became
\na matador's cape, gave the dancers and the audience the time to
\nimagine the histories, hopes, dreams and disappointments of this
\nodd group of characters, thrown together in Schlomer's imaginary
\nhighland life.<\/p>\n
Originally wishing to choreograph a work about the history of
\na Scottish Highlands, Schlomer, along with stage and costume
\ndesigner Frank Leimbach, traveled to the region early in l995 to
\nconduct research. After making a number of recordings of
\ncontemporary and traditional of the region, they realized that
\nthey were much more fascinated by the Scottish people of today.<\/p>\n
Upon their return to Germany, they scrapped their original
\nidea and, instead, focused on their impressions of contemporary
\nScottish Highlanders, as well as people of other highland areas,
\nsuch as those in South America, and the link between humanity and
\nnature.<\/p>\n
The final set was drastically reduced from the original
\ndesign, which featured an abstract glen, leaving only a backdrop
\nof clouds and a scattering of dried leaves. The piece therefore
\nrelied heavily on the dancers, the lighting, and the music to
\ncreate certain atmospheres and locations.<\/p>\n
The accompanying musical score, entitled Highland or The
\nReverberation of the Stones, by Michael von Hinzensterna and Hans
\nTutschku, is a \"soundscape\" (sound-landscape) of traffic, a train
\nstation, bagpipes, military percussion, carnival music from South
\nAmerica, courtly baroque music, folk songs and fully-composed
\npassages. Also using archetypal sounds, such as fire and water,
\nthe highly-original score brought together these disparate noises
\ninto a tapestry tightly interwoven with the images on stage.<\/p>\n
As the piece drew to a close, the dancers moved with
\nincreasing intensity, a burning energy, accompanied by the sound
\nof fire. In the final moments, the dancers fell to the floor, lay
\nmotionless, and then, slowly, each raised a single flower into
\nthe air. As with many of the dance performances seen during Art
\nSummit Indonesia l995, Schlomer ends his piece on a hopeful note:
\nEven though there is death and a feeling of hopelessness in the
\nworld, there is also rebirth.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, this optimism, shown by artists from around the
\nworld, has boosted the determination of Indonesian choreographers
\nand composers to persevere in their creative investigations of
\nthe world of contemporary performance -- despite the many
\nobstacles -- in the name of artistic pursuit.<\/p>",
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