“An Invitation… needs an audience. An Invitation… takes playfulness very seriously. We are creating this in this moment. What happens or doesn’t happen is influenced directly by us. We play the performer, we play the audience. We are the show. Is it now? An Invitation… is about connection, spontaneity, but also about uncertainty”. (Jo Fong)
‘An Invitation’ begins at the end … the post show discussion for a dance show we haven’t seen, or are possibly about to (re)construct with the performers. The stage stretches out like a runway of possibilities, sandwiched between two lines of chairs occupied by the intermingled audience, dancers, and choreographer. The invitation (perhaps) is to playfully engage with the processes of making and performing choreography through a structured improvisation.
Although the ‘An Invitation’ does not rely on audience interaction, it clearly benefits from vocally, and physically engaged spectators. Unexpected interjections bring forth moments of humour, verbal reflection and bodily (in)action from the performers. Each of these responses revealed how it is to be performer ‘in the world’, responding ‘the moment’ without uncertainty.
Fong is clearly interested in the minutiae of spectator-performer interactions, and how the ‘performances’ of spectators feed ‘spectating’ performers on the stage. This philosophical questioning is explored in an accessible and entertaining manner, that doesn’t exclude spectators who are new to contemporary dance. Working closely with her fellow performers Beth Powlesland and Laura Lee Greenhalgh, Fong ensures that ‘An Invitation’ keeps you guessing who are the performers in the work, and wondering if all the spectators are naive observers.
‘An Invitation’ is on tour in wales from January to March, before heading to Manchester and Findhorn (Scotland) later in the year.
words GUNDIJA ZANDERSONA, photo JOHN COLLINGSWOOD