this week FLIRTY HORSE went to watch a choreographic lab presentation at tanz*hotel wien>>> two tiny studios, barely fifteen people in auditorium, cozy drinks and meals in the break >>> bert gstettner approached us and said he’s happy we came >>> in general, viennese artists are very friendly to us – at least so far; suggesting places to go and opportunities to consider, being helpful and respectful, they seem also to be calmly dignified in sharing their weirdly unattainable work; elena waclawiczek, one of the participants of the tanz*hotel residency, presented a piece, where she was moving in between of three plastic curtains; her spine and limbs were following the quality of the swaying and shivering membranes, establishing the mesmeric resemblance between human flesh and semi-transparent sheets >>> the movement qualities’ likeness opened the performance, lasted for twenty minutes and finished it, having not moved away from the starting point >>> the artist’s fascination was dominating the work: the peculiar fascination for a small specific thing >>> look, – says the artist, – there is a bush, and there is a flower on the bush, and the flower has a petal, and there is a vein on this petal; i find this vein gorgeous >>> the audience doesn’t see, how the artists arrived at the bush, how they chose one rose, and why they focused on this particular petal, and for which reason other veins of the same petal don’t seem attractive to them – only the moment of the final fascination is exposed, which leaves an ambiguous feeling: i felt tragically incapable of reaching the artist, who looked totally content with own business >>>
meanwhile, we continued to work on the CHARITABLE FREAKSHOW >>> kasija went through an intense meditation session and touched some distant layers of her subconsciousness >>> these layers took a pretty poetic shape: kasija walked along an ocean shore to a beach bar, where she found only one customer – fat ugly man, who was so indifferent to her appearance that she suspected he was dead, shot in the head or smth >>> there was no one else at this bar, but the speaker in the corner was spreading the sound of crowd, thus creating a busy atmosphere >>> the waitress called anna, depressed girl with a tiny nose and microscopic eyes, confessed to kasija that her dog died, but she befriended the neigbor’s cat >>> anna complaint that the cat has a tumor in her belly, but when kasija examined the cat’s body herself, it became apparent that it was not a tumor, but a collection of small glass balls that were bouncing in the cat’s stomach like in a bag >>> weirdly, nobody knew the name of the cat >>> that’s how we created the first freak for our charitable show: the cat with a heavy belly, the cat who can’t stand up >>>
intrigued? we are thrilled, too >>> yes, we are also fascinated by a very specific small thing, so I guess it is good we moved to vienna >>> by the way, in the end, the piece CHARITABLE FREAKSHOW will be a dance solo performed by kasija, and I wonder where could we show it >>> dear subscribers, do you maybe know some festival/stage/museum/organization that would be interested in such work, meaning dance with elements of schizophrenia? Write to us and let us know, please; Bert said, the next residency at the tanz*hotel will take place around spring 2022, and we’d need smth earlier >>>
best, ivan & kasija
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