Get ready with your vacuum cleaners! A comic river dance spoof of women on the vacuum march! This humorous section is from a larger work called “Apartment”, choreographed by the famous Swedish choreographer, Mats Ek, and is danced by soloists from the Paris Opera Ballet. The music is performed live on stage with the dancers by a Swedish band called, Fleshquartet.
Apartment is made up of eleven different scenes in different rooms of human realities. The scenes are set in apartment/living spaces such as the kitchen, television room, bathroom and shown here in the living room where the women are vacuuming. The décor uses “IKEA” like props and the dancing in this particular piece is based on highly contemporized hybrid of Scottish dance that we hear mirrored in the music.
This comical section begins with Marie-Agnes Gilot dancing a solo with her vacuum cleaner. She is joined by other women who drag along their own vacuum cleaners making up a strong vanguard of women marching in a quazy militant, river dance style. Mr. Ek also included the proverbial ranting of woman towards the male band members, which is quite hilarious, only to go back to he chore with great gusto
I really love how the movement is grounded and eats up the space with wide big movements, interspersed with the rapid foot movements of clogging. The movement is not pretty but bold and functional in which I sense defiance. I am really amused with how Mr. Ek has ingeniously choreographed the vacuum cleaner prop directly into the movement and visual patterns.
This is an entertaining piece, and is timely to celebrate those who leave the vacuuming chores till the weekend!
Happy vacuuming! And enjoy this entertaining piece! Be sure to SHARE!
Leave a Reply