this is the voice of re:mote induction.Monday, May 31, 2004
togue [ariadone/spina] - togue is a bizarre and fascinating hybrid of forms, joining choreographer Carlotta Ikeda's all woman butoh company Ariadone with the French Spina, who are described as an industrial rock band. the performance took place at Glasgow's tramway, one of two nights at this venue.
the performance starts with the lights going down, so that we are all plunged into darkness. Spina start playing a heavy guitar piece, lights going up to reveal a section of the stage - a raised section, on which the three members of the band are playing at the back of the space. in front of them it appears there is some kind of net curtain, creating a diaphanous haze through which the band appear to be fuzzy silhouettes.
as the band play, we can make lighter coloured objects on the floor, patches where there is clear something there to relieve some of the darkness. as spina reach the end of their first number with some cacophonic climax, they are plunged into darkness, and instead 5 women are revealed crouched in a diagonal line that cuts across the ground. each wears a jaw length wig of stringy red hair, their bodies consumed by over sized and elaborately decorated robes - orange material, with various embroidered designs.
between the hair and the white face paint, along with the expressions of the women, there is a moment where their slow motion movements almost have me convinced that they are automations - toy women, going through painfully programmed sequences. with this section there is more of a sound track, atmospheric music, which compliments this introduction to the dancers. dancers who gradually rise and make their motions around the stage. this is the point where they are probably most blatantly butoh, everything deeply considered. this is also where the first sense of the pieces darkness comes in, the sudden gasps of fear, the wide eyed horror. heads are thrown back, arms raised, huge shuffling cloaks make advances, zombie style.
these undead make their way once more, writhing to the floor, where upon they fight their way out of the restricting robes. now mostly naked, they take on a more feral aspect, shuffling around the room on all fours, growling when they encounter each other, or simulating sexual encounters. the climax of this section is reached as each of them retrieve their robes, while retaining the more animalistic personalities - leading to at least one clash over territory. retreating from the stage, we are returned to darkness and the sound of running water.
a light flicks on, revealing the guitarist standing a few feet from the front row of the audience. as he starts playing, the singer steps out from stage right. as the two of them perform a light goes on at the back of the stage, where the raised wall the band were on earlier is, here we can see an older woman, who is presumably Carlotta Ikeda. she dances her way forward, keeping in with the music. this is a more straight forward piece, which presumably gives some time the other dancers to take a breather, and change costumes.
with the end of that section we are stripped back down to the sound of running water, before the girls erupt once more on stage. still scantily clad in ephemeral Basques, running and shouting, gesticulating in an expression of anger and disdain at the audience - maenads now. once more this scene is climaxed with a sense of horror and retreat, which leads to another piece with ikeda herself. this time the lights reveal the singer at the front of the stage, while behind him a large object has been placed, perhaps the thorn to which togue translates? ikeda, this time in a shoulderless dress, as opposed to the black trousers and blouse she wears in her other appearances, works off the thorn, while spina play.
the next section is perhaps where the most humour comes in. with another costume change the girls return to the stage one at a time, simulating some kind of bizarre children's television programme. the first hops in, bouncing up and down, each after that making her own move till the 5 are lined up in a shuffling line. this time they have black hoods, instead of red wigs, coming up over their heads to leave the white faces exposed. while their bodies are crouched down inside what look like large, grey, rubber, mail sacks. on their hands they wear oversized gloves, similar socks complete the impression that these are funny little creatures. from the back right hand corner, they shuffle along the back of the stage and then forward, till they are in a line facing the audience. all the way the five have an assigned expression, which gives them a definite emotion, as they work their way about the stage, the take a rippling progression along the line where each turns and pouts, looks bemused, or laughs at the audience. reaching a peak where they are lined up in front of the first row of seats. here like before they address the audience, but this time instead of furious arm movements, it is all facial, mouthing off at the audience in exaggerated forms in time with the musical shifts. as with each of the previous pieces there is a conclusion of cartoon horror, these little creatures fighting to protect each other, gasping confirmation that there is something at the back of the audience which is a threat. retreating they open a door way in the base on the back wall, while the band plays on top.
the final scenes see the girls return with the red wigs once more, this time each wearing a cut off pink swim suit styled costume. here there are some more slow motion butoh manoeuvres, before the singer steps his way into their midst. they move around him, at this point giving the most emphasis to the idea that we could all be sitting on the set of some elaborate pop video being filmed - a singer surrounded by dancers while the band plays their latest single. in stealthy steps ikeda passes behind all this, untouched and uninvolved. with the singers return to the top of the coppered wall at the back of the stage we approach the end game, the ultimate expression of the terror which seems to have been a theme of the performance. mixing in with more innocent dance, till the girls become convinced once more that there is something bad out there. they flee to the wall at the back, then come forward forgetting, then flee, but now these walls are moving forward. eyes look like they will pop out, frantic emotions are viral, spreading and escalating, as the girls are pushed further forward. forced to confront the fear, given no escape, we witness some pretty convincing displays of dismay, scrabbling feet pushing against the pushing wall, hands clawing at the wall, little gasps and yelps. then the girls are right at the front, there is no escape, and there is nowhere to go, the lights go out and it is over.
togue is an hour long performance, filled with intensity which captures the attention, with an aesthetic ranging from archaic robotics to feral eroticism, from start to finish we are captivate by Ariadone and the extremes of comedic shuffling creatures through the spectral to the animalistic. the performance was done twice in Glasgow, and catching the second night I instead wished that I had gone the first. the problem always with a performance like this is how much it is of the instant, the fact that you can't rewind, or flick back a few pages, just to relive a particularly striking moment. so to have caught the first night would have at least allowed for the possibility of a repeat performance.
the performance starts with the lights going down, so that we are all plunged into darkness. Spina start playing a heavy guitar piece, lights going up to reveal a section of the stage - a raised section, on which the three members of the band are playing at the back of the space. in front of them it appears there is some kind of net curtain, creating a diaphanous haze through which the band appear to be fuzzy silhouettes.
as the band play, we can make lighter coloured objects on the floor, patches where there is clear something there to relieve some of the darkness. as spina reach the end of their first number with some cacophonic climax, they are plunged into darkness, and instead 5 women are revealed crouched in a diagonal line that cuts across the ground. each wears a jaw length wig of stringy red hair, their bodies consumed by over sized and elaborately decorated robes - orange material, with various embroidered designs.
between the hair and the white face paint, along with the expressions of the women, there is a moment where their slow motion movements almost have me convinced that they are automations - toy women, going through painfully programmed sequences. with this section there is more of a sound track, atmospheric music, which compliments this introduction to the dancers. dancers who gradually rise and make their motions around the stage. this is the point where they are probably most blatantly butoh, everything deeply considered. this is also where the first sense of the pieces darkness comes in, the sudden gasps of fear, the wide eyed horror. heads are thrown back, arms raised, huge shuffling cloaks make advances, zombie style.
these undead make their way once more, writhing to the floor, where upon they fight their way out of the restricting robes. now mostly naked, they take on a more feral aspect, shuffling around the room on all fours, growling when they encounter each other, or simulating sexual encounters. the climax of this section is reached as each of them retrieve their robes, while retaining the more animalistic personalities - leading to at least one clash over territory. retreating from the stage, we are returned to darkness and the sound of running water.
a light flicks on, revealing the guitarist standing a few feet from the front row of the audience. as he starts playing, the singer steps out from stage right. as the two of them perform a light goes on at the back of the stage, where the raised wall the band were on earlier is, here we can see an older woman, who is presumably Carlotta Ikeda. she dances her way forward, keeping in with the music. this is a more straight forward piece, which presumably gives some time the other dancers to take a breather, and change costumes.
with the end of that section we are stripped back down to the sound of running water, before the girls erupt once more on stage. still scantily clad in ephemeral Basques, running and shouting, gesticulating in an expression of anger and disdain at the audience - maenads now. once more this scene is climaxed with a sense of horror and retreat, which leads to another piece with ikeda herself. this time the lights reveal the singer at the front of the stage, while behind him a large object has been placed, perhaps the thorn to which togue translates? ikeda, this time in a shoulderless dress, as opposed to the black trousers and blouse she wears in her other appearances, works off the thorn, while spina play.
the next section is perhaps where the most humour comes in. with another costume change the girls return to the stage one at a time, simulating some kind of bizarre children's television programme. the first hops in, bouncing up and down, each after that making her own move till the 5 are lined up in a shuffling line. this time they have black hoods, instead of red wigs, coming up over their heads to leave the white faces exposed. while their bodies are crouched down inside what look like large, grey, rubber, mail sacks. on their hands they wear oversized gloves, similar socks complete the impression that these are funny little creatures. from the back right hand corner, they shuffle along the back of the stage and then forward, till they are in a line facing the audience. all the way the five have an assigned expression, which gives them a definite emotion, as they work their way about the stage, the take a rippling progression along the line where each turns and pouts, looks bemused, or laughs at the audience. reaching a peak where they are lined up in front of the first row of seats. here like before they address the audience, but this time instead of furious arm movements, it is all facial, mouthing off at the audience in exaggerated forms in time with the musical shifts. as with each of the previous pieces there is a conclusion of cartoon horror, these little creatures fighting to protect each other, gasping confirmation that there is something at the back of the audience which is a threat. retreating they open a door way in the base on the back wall, while the band plays on top.
the final scenes see the girls return with the red wigs once more, this time each wearing a cut off pink swim suit styled costume. here there are some more slow motion butoh manoeuvres, before the singer steps his way into their midst. they move around him, at this point giving the most emphasis to the idea that we could all be sitting on the set of some elaborate pop video being filmed - a singer surrounded by dancers while the band plays their latest single. in stealthy steps ikeda passes behind all this, untouched and uninvolved. with the singers return to the top of the coppered wall at the back of the stage we approach the end game, the ultimate expression of the terror which seems to have been a theme of the performance. mixing in with more innocent dance, till the girls become convinced once more that there is something bad out there. they flee to the wall at the back, then come forward forgetting, then flee, but now these walls are moving forward. eyes look like they will pop out, frantic emotions are viral, spreading and escalating, as the girls are pushed further forward. forced to confront the fear, given no escape, we witness some pretty convincing displays of dismay, scrabbling feet pushing against the pushing wall, hands clawing at the wall, little gasps and yelps. then the girls are right at the front, there is no escape, and there is nowhere to go, the lights go out and it is over.
togue is an hour long performance, filled with intensity which captures the attention, with an aesthetic ranging from archaic robotics to feral eroticism, from start to finish we are captivate by Ariadone and the extremes of comedic shuffling creatures through the spectral to the animalistic. the performance was done twice in Glasgow, and catching the second night I instead wished that I had gone the first. the problem always with a performance like this is how much it is of the instant, the fact that you can't rewind, or flick back a few pages, just to relive a particularly striking moment. so to have caught the first night would have at least allowed for the possibility of a repeat performance.
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