Motif

"Cursed be forever the fruitless dreamer who in his idiocy
possessed by an idle and soluble problem first wanted
to unite the aspects of love and those of virtuousness."

Charles Baudelaire.

Four characters search for recognition, acknowledgement and happiness

Baudelaire lived in a period of the perfidy of romanticism. Romance was an invented dreamworld, obscenity was hidden by layers of lace and silk. Venereal diseases went round, like AIDS in our time and age. Man always strives to be virtuous, both to himself and to others.
This action is contrary to being an artist. People act according to the morals and standards of society. The performance C. in Klein uncovers the dream world of four characters who are in search for recognition, acknowledgement and happiness. Their body language is the tragic and risible result of their impotence to communicate. Language, the use of voices, illustrates their desire.
The characters are caught in their own web of memories and lost successes. They wander through their no man's land. They are in a health resort of past glory; maybe they are ill. They are in the same boat, but refuse to accept their fates. The close and sultry atmosphere adds to the silence and the falsehood of their existence. They try to keep up their illusions, but towards the end of the performance, their fades are eroded: a bald and unpolished image is left.

Trying to keep up illusions

Towards the end of the performance, their fades are eroded: a bald and unpolished image is left.
That bald and unpolished image appears in advertisements for Calvin Klein as well. Moos d'Herripon was struck by both its rudeness and directness. Inspired by the image, she created some basic ideas for her performance, in which she now wants to show people in search, as all people do, for love and happiness, but on their way, meeting with anger, fear and illusion, while hiding their real intentions.
As in the advertisements, the situations of these people are shown, not interpreted. There is no comment, there is no criticism. The lives of these people are left as open questions. Interpretation is possible, but resides exclusively with the audience. That makes the story extremely tense and thrilling.

Method of working

Moos d'Herripon strives to get the attention of many different and broad audiences. In order to achieve this, she searches for her own dance language in which elements of dance and theatre are connected in a comprehensible way. She uses images and impressions from everyday life. She consciously separates movement (dance) from this, so that the dance is reduced to its core, the most essential part of it. Lienation and fragmentation are important aspects of her choreographies. In that respect, D'Herripon particularly likes to use unexpected characteristics of her dancers. Their own personality and individuality are for her perhaps the most interesting aspects to investigate during the rehearsal process.

Composition & Sound Mix

An important source of inspiration for this performance was the human voice as a symbol for the communication between people. The composer Kees Wieringa and Moos d'Herripon decided to translate the sound of the human voice into movement (dance). Voices, thus functioning as independent 'characters', comment on the movements and the communication between the actors. The composition will not only be an illustration of the action of the dancers, but will also incite the dancers to action.

Speelperiode

25 + 26 + 27 oktober 1996: Dansateliers Rotterdam
9 + 10 +13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 november 1996: De Melkweg, Amsterdam
26 november 1996: Theater Romein, Leeuwarden
10 januari 1997: Steigertheater, Nijmegen
18 januari 1997: Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, De Blauwe Zaal
21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 januari 1997: Felix Meritis, Amsterdam
17 april 1997: Theater De Vorst, Tilburg