Performances 02.07

Compagnie Drift
"Hells Bells and Furritive Folly"
(Szwitzerland)

Mariko Tanabe
"Narcisse En Silence"
(Canada)

Compagnie Drift (Switzerland) “Hells, Bells and Furtive Folly" - First Impressions

Ewa from Bytom: I liked it a lot and was impressed by the physical skills of the dancers. It was an interesting and intelligent message they put across.

Kasia and Ola from Katowice: It was the first performance here that meant something to me. The technique didn’t stand in the way of the message. Finally, something was happening on the stage.

Ada from Bialystok: It reminded me of “Cialo (The Body)” of Sasha Waltz shown in the Body-Mind Festival in Warsaw and I enjoyed both of them very much.

Sharon Friedler (USA): A lot of joy and it was beautiful, like “Alice through the Looking Glass” with a big dose of imagination. The performance evolved in a surprising way.

Mariko Tanabe Danse “Narcissus in Silence” - First Impressions

Przemek from Bialystok: That was nice! It was the first time I saw something Japanese and the text was more intimate than the fact of her nakedness. The dancer was honestly talking about herself.

Sylvia from Wroclaw: An intimate performance recording a segment of her life and memories. The balanced movement effected the emotions of the audience, sometimes gently and sometimes abruptly.

There's no question that Compagnie Drift is the biggest hit so far at the festival. A friend told me that it gained an instant standing ovation, which is a rarity here. As the comments above indicate there was much humour and stage presence from the performers.

Darn it! I took the opportunity of a quiet day and visited Krakov - so I missed it.

IF A FEW WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH - VOICES FROM OUR READERS

TO SEE, TO FEEL, TO UNDERSTAND – “NARCISSE EN SILENCE” BY MARIKO TANABE

Can’t we get carried away by our senses for a while? Maybe then the “empty signs” would mean something. Even if the scenography is well worn, the real artist can touch the audience’s feelings. We read with our hearts the numerous emotions, the states of the soul, everlasting human aspirations for perfection, obsessive need of love, presence of the sacred and the profane in a human’s life.

Although I am not an artist, nor a writer, as an ordinary person I think that calling somebody’s life-confession banality is not the best idea. The art is to move, to provide feelings, to force to reflection. Everyone has a right for his own opinion, but I think that it is unquestionable that Tanabe opened her soul for the spectators, showed everything and purified herself.
In my mind no matter whether you are a teacher, a nurse or a dance critic, you mustn’t forget that first of all you are a member of humanity. It is not possible to count, compare and treat everything statistically. There are things which you have to feel!

author: Karolina from Białystok
translation: Magdalena Pietraś