The world could use a little more of empathy – the new performance of Club Guy & Roni comes at the right time. In Islands of Empathypart of their series The Human Odyssey, choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver look for empathy in a society focused on individualism and self-reliance. A world where not our loved ones, but self-help books and telephone helplines, should offer a way out of the chaos of daily existence.
Weizman and Haver sought advice from Senegalese ‘griots’, the wise storytellers who are a unifying factor in society through their stories about history, traditions and the community-oriented Ubuntu philosophy.
A nice starting point, but the execution in the performance is weak and not very original. One of the few clear lines in Islands of Empathy for example, is formed by the acted scenes in which Katarina (dancer Sofiko Nachkebiya) has telephone conversations with operator Alex (dancer Adam Peterson) of the Empathy Hotline.
When she catches him after several rounds of ‘stay on the line’, her petty problems – failed rice, a dead fish, an uninterested husband – appear to hide feelings of despair, inability and loneliness. Meanwhile, a baby’s cry falls silent; the suggestion is made that Katarina shook her child to death. Nachkebiya and Peterson act well, but such telephone conversations as cries for help in the individualistic society are certainly no longer original.
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Guy and Roni ask big life questions and mainly give amusing answers
Randomness
Another recurring element are the short bursts of Sabar dance by the Senegalese dancer Awa Seck to the fast Sabar rhythms by percussionists Pape Seck and Niels Meliefste (Slagwerk Den Haag).
They are used as bedding and the function as a whole is thin: the seven dancers of Club Guy & Roni try to learn and imitate her dance language in a synchronous group dance by way of connection and empathy. Almost all group dances are synchronous; nice choreography with wild turns and flailing limbs, sometimes a kind of twisted version of classical music.
The makers are well aware that it is difficult to incorporate something relevant about empathy into dance. For example, dancer Angela Herenda gives a somewhat pompous description of empathy that is impossible to capture exactly in movement. On the other hand: the hand that is sometimes placed on a shoulder is more eloquent than lengthy discourses, just like the way in which a dancer sometimes allows himself to be moved by the others.
Pape Seck’s percussion on djembe and gourd drums does occasionally boost the performance. But in general there is a lack of a clear line, a unifying, compelling concept, which makes the performance fragmented. Development is lacking and a certain randomness creeps in. The most powerful are the bright yellow costumes by Tania Ballve, the excellent lighting design by Maarten van Rossem, and especially the contributions of percussionists Seck and Meliefste.