Synsforstyrrelser
(Visual Disturbances)
Solo.
Premiere: 7th May, 2010, Dansescenen, Lille Carl, Copenhagen.
A solo piece dedicated to the sense of sight. Synsforstyrrelseris based on Anders Christiansen's passion for working with sight and sightlessness.
Concept, choreography and dance: Anders Christiansen
Composition: Jakob Brandt-Pedersen
Costume design, videotrailer and set consultant: Lise Klitten
Lighting design: Michael Breiner
Technician: Jonas Corneliussen
PR: Peter Lyth
Production:(stillleben)
Minimum stage measurements: 10 metres deep x 14 metres wide
Duration:50 minutes
See video trailer from the performance [!video-link?filid=391&linktekst=here!]
See promotion video here
Press quotes:
The inward-looking gaze
"You have to close your eyes to see clearly, wrote Marguerite Duras. Here in Denmark, Anders Christiansen has explored the idea of sequences of dance with a blindfold on, many times in his solo work. As an image that represents looking inwards and showing us things we are otherwise blind to. In his new solo, Synsforstyrrelser, Anders Christiansen focuses effectively on the elimination of sight as a means to see in the dark, which augments the other senses and affects the behaviour of movement. Helped successfully by Michael Breiner’s very fine lighting design and Jakob Brandt-Pedersen's image-rich music with real sounds that open up the inner vision." Vibeke Wern (Berlingske, 10th May 2010)
Visual disturbances, still twitching long afterwards "Solo dancer, Anders Christiansen's Synsforstyrrelser is a successful experiment with sound and light. The senses are still twitching long after leaving Dancescenen’s auditorium.
Radio signals, pulsating noise, congested motorways, road works, church bells, crashing waves and strange voices cut through the body in a special way, when your eyes cannot find where the noise is coming from. And the solo dancer, Anders Christiansen begins his game of sound and light blindfolded. His body illustrates how it looks when one has only sound to navigate by, and the audience are exposed to the same experiment by the performance's lighting design. We are in the light. Then we are in the dark. Then a flash of light, making us squint suddenly, bursts the darkness. Synsforstyrrelser is an ideal title.
What makes the show particularly interesting is partly Anders Christiansen's physical musicality. It is as if he is capable of listening with the whole of his body, telling us a lot more than words ever could. Moreover, Synsforstyrrelser is so perfectly open in its structure that we are neither alienated or imposed a specific interpretation. We are drawn into a universe where there is room for the life that exists between the words. We are given a place to explore, and the body takes part in the journey of discovery.
For can you not feel it in the pit of your stomach when Anders Christiansen stands out of the light amongst a sea of voices? Is it not as if you can feel the existential anxiety that there is in groping a way through life, when Christiansen frantically searches for a cone of light? Is it any wonder that the main character chooses voluntarily to puts some kind of blinkers on at the end of the piece? The performance can be understood as a story about a man who goes into life involuntarily blindfolded and comes out of it wearing self-imposed blinkers. One can also understand it as a pure game of the senses. No matter what, it twitches through your body long after the end, and it can be highly recommended." Louise Øhrstrøm (Byenkalder.dk, 8th May 2010)
Groping in the dark "With repetitive patterns, so characteristic of Anders Christiansen's universe, this dancer and performer has gone into the laboratory once again, this time to dissect sight opposed to sightlessness, in collaboration with the brilliant lighting designer, Michael Breiner and subtle composer, Jakob Brandt-Pedersen. ...Christiansen works persistently and consistently in his usual trans-aesthetic field of expression between dance, performance, visual art and installation. He does not pander to his audience and certainly not in this piece, Synsforstyrrelser. ... the artistic implications: that he persistently dares to embark on sombre artistic expressions that are entirely their own; making the work exciting just to see without necessarily understanding." Mette Garfield (Terpsichore, 12th May 2010)
Venues:
Dansescenen, Lille Carl, Copenhagen, 7-12 May 2010.
Synsforstyrrelserwas produced with support from Augustinus Fonden, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden, Dansk Skuespillerforbunds koreograflegat, Carlsbergs Mindelegat for Brygger J.C. Jacobsen.
Photographs: Christoffer Askman
In all pictures: Anders Christiansen
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