SUPERCELL PREMIERE
Thursday Sept. 21, 7:15 PM at The Clarice
Rough Initial Watch: At the beginning of the event they were all tangled up in cords connected to bags of water. They slowly untied themselves and separated into their own corners, one person sitting in a chair very close to use. Another walked up the isle of the stairs and tried holding the microphone out to people. Then the show actually started. A dude showed up on the projector and started making weird gagging sounds, describing a supercell he witnessed. He is trying to forget about it. Jhe is definitely on a crazy tangent. He is recalling how he hasn't seen anybody in days, recounting the days over and over again. There are people slithering on the ground for the entire show. A woman starts describing the wind in a supercell, and doing so in a singing voice. It seems this show is very intertwined with interpretive dancing, like dancing to signify the wind and storm, etc. It also seems like a metaphor for something else other than a storm. The music is also barely 'music' more like ambience and loud clanging. They then start talking in symphony, exchanging similar yet different monologue. They then start arguing, the dude seems like an antagonist, maybe an embodiment of the mentally ill mind of the woman rambling. As they start to repeat words the words of the woman breaks down and starts repeating the man's words. Maybe more likely even the words of an abusive partner, as he starts to just flat out insult her as she falls silent. The interpretive dancers in the back are clearly telling signs of a struggle. The woman says she hasn't changed enough for him. They then start jogging around another man, different from the abusive one. They start staring at the projection of the man as he dances and says that it's not their end. The projector then shows all five of their camera. They slowly turn to look around the room, looking more frantically over time, even starting to move their entire bodies erratically. At the end they all start dancing together, each of them saying 'now', then performing a different dance. They start pointing their hands at the camera screen, then go back to dance. A woman starts going on about what rehearsal means to her, then the camera starts moving to each one individually. The dancing section goes on for a while afterwards. The woman then goes to the microphone, but her words are distorted beyond understanding. Then, they drag the bags of water across the room, and take off their cameras, I think maybe signifying their removal of shackles? It's hard to interpret. The lights start to flicker and fade, as they lay back on the ground, each taking turns standing in each others backs before collapsing again. The two dudes start fighting, one grabs the mic and starts rambling about equality and such, while everyone starts putting the cameras back on him. Then he starts talking about him being awesome and egotistical. I think the cameras are a shackle that prevent him from being a truly good person. He starts getting angry spouting crazy threats and how wrong we are that we think that he is gonna save our world. The woman grabs another mic and shouts to give it back. Then it goes silent, and all the props fall and everyone falls to the ground. A slight drone can be heard as the people start to roll around the ground. They then start to crawl to the opposite side of the room and spread out the projector screen that has fallen. They then cover themselves in the screen. Then, with the tarp over their heads, they shimmy over to the center stage, then towards the bags of water. One man escapes the cover and begins to uncover the rest of everyone. There is a cover that is draped like waves as the last one under the covers struggles to escape. Another woman brings out a box fan and starts dancing under the 'waves' that it creates. A woman Is then tied up like a mummy in the covers. The show then fades to black.
Thoughts and Questions: 1. Performance art multimedia performances like this one are a radically different approach to conveying the issues and concerns of global climate change compared to more traditional science or news media venues. What do you think about this performance? In what way was its messaging helpful compared to traditional approaches? In what ways might it be less helpful? Honestly, it was a bit confusing and hard to really understand. Maybe I'm just not good at interpreting dance but I felt like the way they did it was a little much, I found myself giggling at the absurdity of it sometimes. It was meaningful because it put a face on the issues that we are dealing with as a society right now, which helps convey the human element of it. However, I think one way it's very much less effective is because most people have a hard time understanding interpretive dance, most just simply can't siphon the meaning behind the act. 2. How did you feel about this piece? Did it affect you in any way? Did it seem to affect others in the audience? What were your observations? The piece was more eye-candy than actual substance in my opinion. It didn't really affect me because I couldn't connect with the story enough, but others seemed to really, really enjoy it. However, most people were just left confused by the end. 3. Was there anything in this performance which you felt was factually incorrect or that might otherwise impair or otherwise hinder the understanding of or response to global climate change? If so, what was it? No, I don't think so, and besides the play felt a bit disconnected from climate change, or I just couldn't pick up on what it was trying to say until somewhere around the end. 4. How broad an audience do you think this work would appeal to, and why? It would probably only appeal to a select few people who have watched a lot of interpretive dance already, as for a new person like me it was extremely jarring and jolting to see this dancing mixed with storytelling. Speaking of storytelling, it was extremely vague and interpretive, so if you want a direct story this kind of thing is not for you. 5. During the Q&A, did you hear anything from the creators or the audience that made you rethink the performance? If so, what was it? They mentioned that around half of the play was improvised, which I find extremely impressive considering that the entire play felt smooth and thorough, if not a bit too thorough. They also said one of the biggest challenges was working with the cameras mounted to their body, as it is quite hard to dance with another appendage sticking out of you. It's crazy that people can improvise dancing with extra limbs essentially.