Minimalist stage, plays of light and shadow and two bodies that blend into the dance. A dance duet, 4: STILL LIFE is an innovative theatrical project, born from the creativity of the theatre-maker Nicole Beutler.
The title unequivocally recalls a particular artistic current, that of still life, which allows the artist to freely dispose of the elements that make up the work. In addition, there are two other sources of inspiration for the Munich born choreographer: the ballet and the Bauhaus. The goal of this art school, founded a century ago in Weimar, was to ensure that the mass production did not lose even the last trace of humanity in favor of full aseptic industrialisation, loading with meaning even the most banal objects of everyday use. The two performers (Marjolein Vogelse and Benjamin Kahn) alternate moments of dance with short existential dialogues, and sometimes disappear behind the white panels that move during the show. The reference to the Bauhaus is given by the presence of geometric forms such as the triangle, the square and the circle, which represent the ABC of an artist educated at the Bauhaus school.
There is a perfect fusion between form and narration, with an ambient musical background that, in some moments, turns into an insistent ticking clock, recalling the inevitable passage of time. As in real life, even on stage the bodies are sometimes absolutely distant, other times so close as to become a single entity, the completion of each other. There is a certain sensuality in seeing a body that follows the movements of the other with grace but also with decision.
The style is very provocative and subtly amusing, and demonstrates Nicole Beutler’s ability to break down pre-established patterns giving space to new alternatives of thought and action.
The show is on tour throughout the Netherlands until the end of April. Federica Veccari at the Frascati Theatre in Amsterdam on 3rd April 2019
