Here we watch the goings on between a group of dancers through the windows of a dance studio. The observers (us) watching along with the cameraman are acting as voyeurs. The camera offers a view from the other side of the street, from the roof of the building opposite. The dancers do not seem to realize they are being watched. The video as a whole is filmed in 'real time', like when you watch the vicissitudes of the neighbours across the way from behind the curtains in your own home. We hear music by Bach in the background coming from the cameraman's flat. There seems to be a party going on across the way. We see streamers and Chinese lanterns hanging. What is happening in the dance studio, what is going on between the people, is elusive. Sometimes they are rowing or fighting, at other times they are kissing or making love. A number of dancers are standing on the balcony, looking in the camera's direction. One of the girls lifts up her blouse and briefly shows her breasts. The camera quickly changes direction. It is unclear whether the dancers notice 'us', the observers. In the meantime the situation in the dance studio is getting more and more out of hand. The fights are becoming more violent, people are pulling each other's hair, kicking, hitting, getting drunk. The developments are recorded without emotion and, besides the occasional comment by the cameraman, are accompanied by various pieces by Bach. The shouting and the music from across the way are drowned out by fervent religious hymns. At the end when seeing the long list of credits – as with a feature film – we realize what has captivated us for more than half an hour: a carefully directed performance by Les Ballets C. de la B. from Brussels. This knowledge does not however diminish the wonder and fascination the work evokes. It remains a document of human emotion, difficult to grasp at times.
– Nathalie Zonnenberg
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Choreography: Alain Platel, Dramaturgist: Hildegard De Vuyst, Costumes: Pynoo, Production: Les Ballets C. de la B.
Sven Augustijnen ° 1970, Mechelen (Belgium)
Lives and works in Brussels (Belgium)
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