Case study: EMBODY, by Ali Northcott

Catch-up once again! I volunteered a couple of my days to one of the event programs that Dance4 was putting on, titled Embody by Ali Northcott. The significance of this event was its relevance to my academic research question (which by this point was submitted as a project proposal last week). Clicky! It was presented at the Bohunk Institute.

I initially helped to set it up.

Main entry

The series of spaces had already been set up by the technicians.

As I was providing further voluntary assistance, it became increasingly apparent that this was a delicate performance piece. There was a requirement of complete silence behind the set. The participant/spectator was asked to take his/her shoes and socks off. The spectator would then go into the second space, which was covered in earth, to watch a short, silent film of rough duration of five minutes. I would then collect those shoes and take it backstage to have it delivered by another volunteer to the third and final space after the audience would have their feet washed. 

There were a few errors in this piece, which did not surprise me.

1. Not enough subtle direction for the intended conclusion of the piece. This was exemplified by one participant standing in the second space long after the short-film had finished. Another one, in the third space, had walked through the wrong entrance to find us backstage... slightly embarrassing for us and probably more so for the participant! 

2. Referring to the first error, there was too much emphasis on subtlety itself. It might be slightly unfair of me to say this, given that I had no insight into what the spectators were being told or provided front-of-house. But absolute silence and cloak to conceal our presence, whilst all very well for the sake of the experience and the performance, may have backfired a bit on Ali, me and the volunteers. I think this lends more explanation to the first error. 

The question that needs to be addressed now revolves around the intrinsic directions one gives to the audience in order to improve their engagement with interactive pieces of art and performance.