Sankai Juku?

My fanny pack search was brought to a screeching halt yesterday as I took one of my quarterley trips to Brooklyn to go to BAM. The company under interrogation was Sankai Juku whom would be performing their 90-minute piece "Kagemi." I won't spend too much time discussing the performance because what I find more interesting are the ideas that it brought up about the subjectivity of art.

I would first like to state one of my new lofty goals; within the next twenty years I want to perform in some way (preferably with my own choreography) at the BAM Opera House. It is a really spectacular space and I might as well set my sights high right? When I walked in to the theater I was struck by the beauty of the building for a millisecond but then looked to the stage where hundreds of white lotus flowers hovered above the surface. It is an image that will forever be burned in my brain and for me the rest of the evening never really lived up to the power of that image. At moments there was incredible beauty on stage but overall I found the performance to be a bit bland and monotonous. The performers showed such complete devotion to the piece that even the most miniscule details carried an enormous amount of weight.

There is so much power in stillness and tranquility on stage or in life but in order to achieve its full impact it must also be aided by its opposite. The calm after the storm is peaceful because of its juxtaposition to the storm. The make up after a fight is pleasant because of the fight. The calmness of this coffee shop is comforting after the insanity of last night, and so on.... If there is no phrasing to the movement and it is all just beautiful is that ever really enough? In my opinion the show just needed a little bit more variety in the movement to make the meditative parts work.

Then comes the fact that David had called me the night before raving about how he felt this was one of the best performances he had ever seen. Hype can make or break an experience and perhaps for me it was just the advanced praise that did me in. It also makes me wonder how life could be different with the most miniscule changes. Had that phone call not happened would my feelings be different? The subjectivity of art is what makes life interesting and I, for one, cannot wait to debate the validity of both of our opinions. Either way it is always worth it to me to see any live theater if only for the discussion that it prompts afterwards.

Comments

[tonya]

Ha ha, David DID like this performance!

Re. BAM, I think you may be a Mark Morris in the making :)

Re. subjectivity in art: yeah, that's both one of the great and totally sucky things about it -- try getting your first novel published...

[Anonymous]

Matt,
Subjectivity in art is the great debate of all time and has occupied the brains of many a philosophers, critics, academics ....... It is also an indication of the great variety/diversity that characterizes the human race.
I would be interested in reading a comparison of David's opinion and yours about Sankai Juku. Sankai Juku comes from the East which is so very different in sensibilities from the West. David's spending some time in Japan may have given him a different aesthetic perspective. Of course, this is pure congecture on my part.
:=)
I hope that City Center is treating you well.
Lili