SOAKED

Last week I went to see Furo by Batsheva. The show was originally produced by Stockholm’s Judiska Teatern in 2006 and it’s the second time it was showed in Tel Aviv.

I have to admit the dance field is quite new to me, and the main reason I went to see the show was Tabaimo, a Japanese artist whose work I saw for the first time at the last Venice Biennial. I’ve already wrote about her artistic style in the post Biennale finale, so I’ll just refer to the video Furo, the starting point of this cooperation between Ohad Naharin, Batsheva’s artistic manager and Tabaimo.

Tabaimo is known for her controversial videos that display the tension between Japanese tradition and contemporary life. The work Furo (Japanese public bath house) deals with aspects of gender, class and morality.

The video was displayed on three large screens that surrounded the stage on which were placed small yellow tubs, a concrete expression of  bathing activity. The dancers performed the first dance segment at the stage center and then continued at both sides of the video where they were standing on top of rotating podiums.

The show was presented in rounds of 45 minutes, each round was performed by different pair of dancers.  The viewers were invited to enter and exit at any given moment, a fact that created an exceptional atmosphere and connection between performers and audience. It was also interesting to experience a show in which the viewer cannot see the entire happening at the same time and the eye flickers between the video and two dancers. That way, one can see different interpretations to the choreography.

However, I was a bit disappointed; The video was screened in a very low quality (which is not typical to Tabaimo’s meticulous work, especially the way it was exhibited at the biennial), the dance segments were not significantly linked to the video and everything seemed a little forced.  The  general atmosphere, set  and costumes design were standing  in prominent contrast to the harsh, refined nature of the Japanese culture in general and Tabaimo’s  work in particular.

Even though, the music selection was wonderful [ Peaches, AA XXX // Gino Vanneli, Crazy Life ] and this cooperation should serve as an inspiration for many more. I will definitely try anything twice.

[Video of the show]

Maya