At its inception some 28 years ago Wim Vandekeybus’ Ultima Vez’ New York showing of this touring work met with the fanatical approval of none other than Iggy Pop, who screamed: “It’s rock’n’roll!” The current version certainly lives up to its hype: it is a piece of pure physicality, unburdened by concepts and complex narratives. It is more concerned with creating a language or vocabulary and the rules of a perverse game.
The energy here is rough and raw, the athleticism fast and frenetic, seeing how the performers act and react, full of the invasion of their personal space. This includes stomping on the stage ground right next to their partner’s prostrate body, demanding twists and turns to deny impact. And then there is a section of frisking, as if at an airport or drugs raid, quite threatening and certainly not polite.
If anything it is a comedy of ill-manners, pushing the performers to extremes of aggression and the need to survive in a world full of catastrophe and fear. It is essentially timeless, though we may think of torture chambers or sexual violence in a certain time and place, we are in fact in a universal world, full of adventure and wonder. It comes entirely from gut feelings and primal instinct, and the games of attraction and repulsion can be both brutal and comedic.
There are moments of stillness, like the calm after the storm of frantic and rapid movement, and some delightful poses are struck, as if in modelling or a family portrait. There are trust exercises that are never quite satisfying or resolved, but always physically demanding in the extreme. It is not anywhere near as simple as a gender battle, though there are elements of this, as well as bullying.
The soundtrack by Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeesch is integral to the work, both as punctuation and to drive on the action like a super-charged engine. There are many happy accidents, like near collisions and dives to save the other dancer from danger. The scenes with towels include nudity and therefore are more sexually charged. But this is not for our titillation, yet again part of an elaborate game, power and status being the subject, not anything amorous or pornographic.
Simply put, this is a piece with real authenticity, you just can’t fake it, and the result of such discipline and the display of such skill as to be absolutely breath-taking and leaving you both thrilled and perplexed. What the Body Does Not Remember is now burnt into our memory like a crazy dream or fantastic phantasm, gone but not forgotten.
***** Adventurous, wonderful
As seen at CAST, Doncaster http://castindoncaster.com/
Rich Jevons https://richjevonsblog.wordpress.com/