Exciting and mesmerizing, this video shows the second part of William Forsythe’s ground breaking work, One Flat Thing Reproduced.
As I watch this I am reminded once again of the William Forsythe’s incredible mind. He pushes the boundaries on what we call dance. With this work as he has broken all conventions and yet has created a symphonic piece that is brilliantly constructed and orchestrated.
I am struck with the apparent randomness and chaos of the dancer’s movements that are bound together with extraordinary precision and timing right down to the smallest gesture of a hand slipping off a table. The movements are intricate and sharp that create unsettling, tense and erratic combinations. Yet the amazing thing is, as disjointed the parts may seem they all flow together to create fascinating relationships and sequences.
Forsythe has dancers ricocheting off one another, sliding, rebounding and dropping away, interspersed with spaces of stillness. They are shattered by hands slapping on table surfaces and shouts of “now” followed by a rush and flurry or urgent activity.
The movements evoke various images such as animals prowling and stalking in a jungle. Or when the dancers rush in and out of the space with urgent speed makes me think of gangs, rushing through streets, jumping over fences and buildings to confront one anther. And overall when the movements become fast and reactive creating a domino effect, remind me of synapses firing in the brain; The frenzied chaotic activity punctuated with moments of periodic stillness.
This is a wonderful piece of work, and can evoke many different responses. I am just in awe at how Forsythe orchestrated all the details into such a cohesive whole. He draws you into the erratic place, grounds you with movements that are familiar and with moments of unison, while holding your attention with the shifting tensions. It makes for an exciting piece.
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******* For those of you who are interested to see the first part of the piece please click on the link below.
One Flat Thing Reproduced – Part ONE
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