Comments on: Everyone and the audience

By: Galen

Galen — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:01:26 +0000

I was seen by the performers, and I guess I too wanted to be seen more or maybe more acknowledged. What I wanted was a sense of evenness. It is interesting to contrast the experience of Everyone staring at me and Jerome Bel looking out at me while “Killing Me Softly” played. Jerome brought me to him. Everyone made me feel my place as audience. That is actually pretty interesting. I think I enjoyed Jerome’s more, but Everyone is an interesting experience.

Ultimately I felt like there were more, deeper investigations that could have been performed in this piece. I wonder how much of that had to do with the publicity. Hmmmm.

By: Lightsey Darst

Lightsey Darst — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:23:36 +0000

I think the advance publicity had something to do with it (it did sound as if there would be more interaction than actually occurred). Walking through the back of the theater, facing out at the audience, the lighting, maybe even the title–it’s called “Everyone,” after all.
Why did I want to be seen, though. . . One does not get too many chances to be actually seen by others, and perhaps that’s something performance could do. We’ll have to live with the reality that this performance never envisioned us as other than heads on flexible stalks. Or. . . well, messing with the audience is cool in dance, but not too many people do it very well. What is the audience capable of doing and willing to do (besides turning those heads back and forth)? What kinds of interaction can a performance accommodate?

By: Kyle Samejima

Kyle Samejima — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:52:06 +0000

That’s a good question. Maybe it’s because of the inverse theater set-up, maybe because when I took a career test in my early 20’s it said I should be an entertainer, maybe because the time I went to Patrick’s Improv I got to writhe around on the floor and move around with other dancers and I realized how much I liked writhing around AND doing it in front of an audience.

I also read in Camille LeFevre’s review before I went and somehow mistakenly got the impression that there was more audience participation. Well, we were kind of invited in the front door, but didn’t get to sit at the table to eat.

And how about you? Any idea why you wanted to be seen?

Kyle

By: Lightsey Darst

Lightsey Darst — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:53:06 +0000

Hi, Kyle. So why did you want to join in? Was it the inverse theater situation? Was it the performers? I’m asking you because I’m wondering where I got my own obscure desire to be seen.

By: Kyle Samejima

Kyle Samejima — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:27:06 +0000

I too felt disappointed about not eventually or directly being pulled from audience member to audience participant. My teenager who was with me, on the other hand, was probably immensely relieved that I didn’t get up and writhe and roll around on the floor with them, because I REALLY wanted to. My legs kept twitching in anticipation.

My favorite feeling of the evening, though, was how the different personalities permeated my aura. That sounds so cliched and or new agey, but I loved that feeling.