Now I have made an paypal dispute(?), I try to get my money back from staalplaat since it seems I won’t get my cd’s. They don’t even answer. But this webhotel provider answered, finally, which was nice.
I ended up ordering some of the same cd’s I ordered from staalplaat again from microsuoni. So there is a fair chance that I’ll end up having two copies of 4 cd’s. Let’s see. I just hope I get my money back.
And again when I have money I have a great urge to use it, fast fast fast. I would like to get a new stereo amplifier, but I don’t have that much money, and even if I had, which is good? Good enough. Same thing with the speakers. I visited one hifi shop and the person there recommended me some things but I would like know more. The problem is that you shoud listen yourself. How does it sound?
On jesterboard was a question are there some artist whose album you will buy anyway, without listening. I answered Do Make Say Think, but now having listened “You, you’re history in rust” I have to re-think. I also have to listen to it again and again.
I’ve been meaning to write more about those performances I saw the other week. Somehow I just can’t get myself to do it. Should I rather do it in Finnish? I don’t know. Let’s try now.
Two pieces from the same choreographer. Both somehow sad or melancholic, but reason more being with the music used and my own emotional state at the time of perceiving. I liked them both.
The first one (solo) brought Maija’s work to my mind. There was some clear connection in the form (for me). Use on speech and language, the tone of speech, official, bit statement like, clear. In movement language the similarities was in exactness, preciseness, sharpness although the actual movement was very, very different.
Other differencies: In this piece the speech commented movement, creation of it (choreographing). The movement was movement made. I don’t know did it say anything. So all in all the piece was about making a dance piece and performing it, being a dancer, being a choreographer. The relationship between speech and movement was somehow one sided. Speech was commenting the doing, creating of something.
In Maija’s work the speech relates to friends, parenthood, social connections. The movement might say something else, it might comment the speech, it might comment something completely else. The relationship between speech, movement, music, and video is quite equal. All of them are tools to express something about the world, social connections, humans.
Some words about the second piece.
The second piece (quintet) had very much similarity with the first one. Use of speech, but this time the tone was more friendly, laid back, conversational. Of course there was more persons to have conversations with. Movement was very similar to the first. Again speech commented movement, choreography, memory of it, and this time also some personal things. This was somehow intriguing to me. Since the movement didn’t have any connection to those personal things or that personal stuff said had anything to do with the movement, it showed out very clearly where the person lies in dance. To me they came person when talking, when being in front of audience not dancing, when moving but not “dancing”. As soon as they went into clearly choreographed dance their persona faded. This, of course, is not true. I could see how they are and I’m quite sure that everything, every walk, glance, movement was choreographed, not only those “dance” movement.
[why I use “dance”? What I mean by it? All of it was dance. What I mean with “dance” is a clear series, phrases that they usually did in unison of different groups]
But If I would have to say the differences in their movement while doing that phrase stuff, I would find it very hard.
Again the piece concentrated on dance, making dance, making choreography.
This brought my mind what Yvonne Rainer said when she was asked why she stop doing dance pieces and went into film making. She explained that she felt that with dance is only possible to comment dancefield it self, it’s history, it’s values, it’s present state, but maybe not so much of society, it’s values, it’s history, it’s present state [< - this is my interpretation totally, maybe she didn't mean this, maybe she said something else]
But by commenting making dance and making choreography you can also tell something more general about human beings, sure.
I'm not reaching the conclusions here, but nevermind. I'm trying to say that I myself value works that say something about society, asks how we work as humanbeings, not how we work as dancers or choreographers. But at the same time I try not to say this too strongly. It doesn't mean that I would not value works that are only commenting dance within the dance. Like I said I really likes both pieces I saw.
Premiere is on saturday. Yesterday we still talked about big changes, today we have to try them out before six when the test audience arrives. I better get going.
Good night and good luck to you all.
