Now it’s the omikron variant again, and who knows, we may still be stuck with Covid-19 until omega. Getting angry about that is a waste of time. I arm myself with a good mood, pay tribute to that good old solidarity (vaccine, distance, attention). Do what you love to do (“yes sister, no sister”, sings it now in the brains of many people over 60), it buzzes in my head. Doing what you love to do means ducking into performances and concerts. They aren’t there at the moment, but since I tacked on for the livestream, I manage to do that. And it’s exciting, because streaming is evolving into a new form that we’re standing by. It is not a film and it is not a theatre, and yet it is a real performance, with its own merits and its own tension. And, a nice side effect, the stream lowers the threshold: those who cannot afford theater tickets can all experience the piece for 12.50 euros.
So the lockdown is a fact again and I’m buying access to the stream of the acclaimed wedding drama like a hare Revolutionary Road. Starts at 8 p.m. punctual. Here we go. And it’s great. The stream benefits from the play, from Erik Whien’s direction and from the actors, with alert cameras and attentive instant editing. Alejandra Theus was nominated for a major acting award for her role and in the stream I see how justified that is. She plays a big drift. The tears she lets down in her eyelashes fall away when you sit in row 15. But in the live stream, I see them and it dawns on me how desperately her character is trying to control her misery.
The Nederlands Danstheater is at the forefront of the livestream, with daring experimental interaction between dancers and cameras. I know what they can do, that’s why I get the creeps from their streamed registration with three choreographies by William Forsythe. One static camera follows things from a distance. Which means that in the distance I see a row of dancers moving violently. Little figures in ballets that I’m not allowed to see the soul of.
I call the NDT. Why did you approach this like that? That’s what Forsythe demanded, I hear: definitely not a live stream, but a registration with one camera in the middle of the hall. Yes, a performance was sold that the public could not see properly, the NDT realized that. And yet it was decided to let it go ahead. You could have at least warned against this rigid approach, bit me. Well, there was a text on the site, but it had to go. Forsythe forbade any explanation.
All right then. Someone has to say it: My dear Forsythe, dear William, you are a virtuoso choreographer. But you know nothing about the livestream. Listen to the streamers of the NDT next time, believe me, there are artists among them. Forget your suspicion, recapture your curiosity. Think of your audience, Think of me.
#dont #tears #great #actress #row