Audience Reviews >

AUDIENCE REVIEW: Idan Cohen's SWAN LAKE

Company:
Idan Cohen

Performance Date:
April 8, 2010

Idan Cohen’s Swan Lake. Photo by Marek Weis.

Company
Idan Cohen

Show / Event Name
Swan Lake

Performance Date
April 8, 2010

Venue / Location
Center for Performance Research

Your Occupation:
Performer/choreographer/server

Last time you moved your body:
Yesterday

Have you ever seen this company/ before? Tell us a bit about your history with this group/performer?
No. My friend said it sounded interesting.

Why did you go to the show? What did you expect to see?
I attended this event because it was at my local theatre. I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't read or see anything about the company or the show before I went.

What was your favorite moment(s)? What inspired you?
The moment the performers entered the space. They, the three female performers, were power houses. The style of the piece was so distinct from the first movements.

Describe as plainly and as specifically as you can what you actually saw. We are going for description without judgement.
There is no need for complete sentences, phrases and word lists are fine. You can describe these elements or anything you can think of: the artists, the kinds of movement, the qualities of the movement, the use of the stage/space, the musicality/timing...

This piece is a retelling of Swan Lake as interpretted by choreographer, Idan Cohen. The piece began unassumingly in the dark with only the music playing, the original Tchaikovsky, score. The backstage space is filled with large can of tomatoes. There were a few tomatoes scattered around. Three dancers enter from off stage one at a time. There energy and dynamic was so specipic and stylized. It was so refreshing to see dance with a voice, and not just shapes. They threw their bodies around, falling on the floor, athetically and riskingly, but always maintained. i was never afraid they were going the hurt them themselves. They not only performed through movement but through facial expressions and sounds. I continue to watch them create relationships between each other, friendship and sisterhood, through the second half. There were now hundreds of tomatoes on stage and they had undressed down to nude leotards. I was trying while I watched it to remember the story of Swan Lake. I couldn't remember, but it didn't matter, and even that i didn't get the specific story these three girls and all the tomatoes didn't matter. The piece had it's own internal logic that allowed me the space to just enjoy their crazy journey.

Do any images, colors or feelings pop into your head when you think about this show?
This is the kind of work that keeps me believing in the power of movement and performance.

Describe any or all of these elements: music, lighting, the venue. - How did they contribute (or not) to your enjoyment of this performance?
The venue sadly has terrible riser seating that is uncomfortable and cold. And i should mention here that the show was marketed quite strongly as a FREE event. When we arrived we were accosted by a stoic lady who was standing by a table with a glass jar that had a sign on it that said 'Suggested Donation 0', she stated the same. I, of course, open my wallet and give 0 for my friend and I, (I had invited my friend because it was free and he is struggling with money). I am happy to support (and granted they surely needed the money to cover the tomatoes), but I just wish I would have known before I got there. It left me with a a bad impression of the venue.

Would you like to see this performance / company again? Would you recommend it to a friend? Why or why not?
Yes, and I would tell everyone I know to see it. Even people who don't regularly see dance or live performance.

What would you like to have seen more of? Less of?
Plenty more of the same.

If you could, what would you ask the choreographer / dancers?
Where did your distinct style come from? There is very specific voice, and I wonder where and when you found it. How do you feel about the dance that is being made in the States? What do think is unique to Isreal that their are so many unique and talanted choreographers emerging from there.