Ada Ruszkiewicz

The international contemporary dance festival Laiks dejot (Time to Dance) took place this June in Rīga and Stāmeriena. The format of the festival (not only this particular one, but the festival as such) offers a unique opportunity for each work to be placed in a context different from that for which it was originally created. Because the performances are seen through one another’s prism and involuntarily compared in search of similarities and differences, novel ways of seeing emerge and the works come to acquire diverse meanings. After a week of performances one feels the temptation to summarize and draw up generalizations in an attempt to answer such questions as: What image of dance does the festival create? What are the dominant topics and formats, if any? Does the festival program enhance the dialogue between works? What strategies of perception and participating can be observed?

Even though the program of Laiks dejot featured not only contemporary dance pieces, but also other dance-related events, video screenings and masterclasses among them, my path through the festival was circumscribed by the live performances. Within one week I saw seven of them: Ceļos, FATAL.E, Tornado, The Wheel, workpiece, Don’t Touch My Eyes, and A Moment – Wakati.

In Ceļos – the first performance I saw, ten members of Latvian dance collective Sixth offered a movement-driven interpretation of the myth of Orpheus and certain themes found within it: the journey (or, less poetically, moving forward) and the opposition between light and darkness. In parallel to the work’s concern with the above-mentioned themes, the dancers explored the possibilities issuing from the group dynamic – mostly limited to repetitive patterns of an individual initiating a movement that gradually comes to possess the other dancers and ceases in a similar manner.

Ceļos was followed by FATAL.E – an intimate solo piece, choreographed and performed by French dancer Zoé Lecorgne with live music accompaniment by Rémi Thibault. I call it intimate not only because of the way the space was arranged (the audience was seated in a small circle around the performance space), but also because of the character of the performer’s presence and the quality of the choreography – characterized by an internal focus, a tension emerging from slow, precise movements, and a very conscious use of facial expressions: shifting from neutral to very expressive, and altering the tone of the performance by doing so. It was no longer about watching and decoding the story or the mythological themes as it was in Ceļos, it was an experience that went beyond witnessing, even more so because the performance was partly based on interaction.

In sharp contrast to the intimacy of FATAL.E was the entirely different scale of Tornado, a performance “gathering and involving a large number of dancers from different generations, as well as festival participants from Latvia and abroad”[1]. It was choreographed by Olga Zitluhina and Valery Olehno who worked in collaboration with musicians Juris Kaukulis and Liene Dobicina, as well as light designer Oskars Paulins. As the title suggests, Tornado’s movement derives from circular motion: running and walking at diverse speeds and in various configurations; this continued for the entire four hours of the work. Each viewer had to choose one of the four hour-long time slots during which to witness a time slice of the performance. This limited accessibility was furthered by placing the audience as if in the middle of the titular Tornado created by the performers’ incessant movement, thus barring the viewers from forming a simultaneous grasp of everything and everyone.

The spectacularity of Tornado contrasted with the simple playfulness of The Wheel. The choreography of the latter, executed by eight Croatian performers coming from different artistic backgrounds, was permeated by parodic interpretations of traditional Croatian dances: sometimes limited to a single gesture, facial or vocal expression, or used simply as an inspiration for a more contemporary movement.

Anna-Marija Adomaityte’s solo performance workpiece was based upon the routine of a McDonald’s employee. In this rather minimalist piece, all elements were carefully thought through – the attire, light and sound, and of course the choreography – all alluding to McDonald’s reality in a subtle, but unmistakable way. Instead of mimicking specific gestures and activities, the performer embodied the characteristics of such work – repetition, pace, rhythm, automation of movement – while successfully avoiding any literal interpretation. There was something fascinating, almost hypnotizing in the intensity of her presence (resulting, in part, from the tension of her body and precision of her gestures), though stunningly fatiguing at the same time.

Don’t Touch My Eyes, supposedly a critical statement about Macedonian politics performed by Dejan Bitrovski and Anastasija Danchevska, featured a choreography that was centred around a set of poses aesthetically illustrating such terms as “oppression”, “strength”, “struggle” or “violence”. The performance’s extremely emotional and serious tone was, paradoxically, too serious to be taken seriously.

The last of the works I saw was A Moment – Wakati, choreographed and performed by Tanzanian duo Tadhi Alawi and Samwel Japhet. A sufficiently detailed analysis of the performance would require an article of its own, for one could focus on the complexity of its structure – the dynamic between the dancers, the different types of interaction, as well as the simultaneity of dance and video – or look for potential inspirations and resemblances and interpret the movement through image and sound. However, while reflecting on the work’s complexity it would also be good to acknowledge its experiential and emotive aspects, tightly bound to the joy emanating from the stage and captivating the audience.

It is diversity that best characterizes the image of dance that Laiks dejot presents, and even though diversity can be a quality, I wish I could better understand why these particular performances were chosen for the festival program. Especially since they differ not only in topic, format, and aesthetics, but also in quality. The main theme of this year’s festival, “friends”, could shed some light on the curatorial decisions. In one of the announcements preceding the festival this brief explanation of the chosen topic was given:

The theme of Laiks dejot in 2022 has grown not only from the isolation caused by the pandemic, which has highlighted the importance of friendship, but also from the atmosphere of the long-standing festival. “(…) The festival is like a family, very friendly (…)”.[2]

This, however, is extremely vague, for what is this “friendliness” referred to by the festival organizers? Could it be the same thing as accessibility or inclusivity? Where does it come from and who is it directed towards? And is this something that could be verified or measured? Looking at friendliness in the simplest way, for example, in regard to communication, the festival was very friendly indeed: the festival crew was very welcoming, always eager to help and answer all practical questions. The above reading of “friendliness” though is quite shallow. To go deeper, one could ask: is friendship and support only declarative, or do they have a real impact on the artistic practice of festival participants? Does everyone receive the deserved recognition and remuneration? Does participation in the festival allow new opportunities (those of collaboration, for example) to appear? Some of these questions would, of course, require more detailed research and have to remain unanswered for now. Yet I find them worth raising, to broaden the possible understandings of what friendliness is or could be in the present context. And, thinking about the needs of the festival’s audience, – is the audience supported in understanding the performances? How do the festival organizers deal with the risk of inaccessibility and potential misunderstandings resulting from presenting the works out of their original context? Is there a place for a theoretical, critical (self-)reflection? Is our knowledge and understanding of dance challenged, or do we stick to our habits and beliefs? The last question should probably be answered individually, but the former ones might, at least partially, be considered in regard to the program of Laiks dejot. In this context, it is important to mention the masterclasses organized as festival events. Most were led by artists invited to perform in the festival. I see them as a great learning opportunity, which not only allows one to get acquainted with various artistic practices, but has the potential of extending the readings and interpretations of the presented works. However, this format once again frames the performances and performers as separate and does not allow for any interaction, at least not publicly. In consequence, this lack of a theoretical frame which could be satisfied, in part, by an organized discussion or at least a curatorial text, puts the responsibility of deciphering the program on the festival’s audience.

As much as I am aware of the importance of nurturing friendships and strengthening the dance community which, I think, was the main motivation of the festival’s organizers, I believe this process should not be happening and cannot really happen without critical (self-)reflection, without raising questions that might seem difficult and make us feel uncomfortable. Of course, such reflection and questioning can take place informally, in the conversations between participants and the public before, after and in between performances. And yet I would caution against overly relying on this informal dialogue since it rarely becomes part of the official discourse. I can only hope that in the future Laiks dejot affords more space for reflection on dance, so that the enjoyment of sharing this passion goes together with the various possibilities of expressing it and advancing the understanding of the dance world and our position within it.

Image: FATAL.E, publicity photo.

[1]    https://www.laiksdejotfestivals.lv/en/2022/06/01/dance-festival-laiks-dejot-2022-with-the-theme-friends-will-bring-together-dance-artists-from-different-countries/

[2]    https://www.laiksdejotfestivals.lv/en/2022/06/01/dance-festival-laiks-dejot-2022-with-the-theme-friends-will-bring-together-dance-artists-from-different-countries/