Never before has the movement of a machine been so musical. Neither has iron ever been so full of flesh, blood and life. Dancing with a man and to his tune it pushes him away sometimes, coaxing him at other times.
An unprecedented dance duet between man and a machine, the ‘Transport Exceptionnels', was performed at Ravindra Bharathi here on Tuesday.
Dancer Philippe Priasso met, greeted, teased and embraced the moving excavator with the extraordinary masculine grace of a man, who has been dancing for 36 of the 55 years he has lived. Performed outside the auditorium, rather than in its confines, the dance transformed the street into a construction site; while seeming to represent a balance between nature, man, and machine.
No storyline
“While ballets are usually for the bourgeoisie, this is an attempt at showing the man of the soil, the poor man, as a connoisseur of dance. It has no story. I do not want to tell a story. Everyone in the audience is free to interpret the machine and its relation to man in his or her own way,” said renowned French choreographer Dominique Boivin.
The excavator, known for its potential to dig, drill and transport, is personified through ‘poetic extension' – one of a hand which carries, elevates and protects. The machines innermost sensitivity is revealed by Priasso in this 20-minute performance.
While choreography for Dominique is but ‘adventure in dance', this unique unison was but an experiment he undertook over six years ago. “We were completely innocent when we began, without the slightest idea of the hurt such an enormous machine especially on movement can pose,” said Priasso.
“Although I was hurt several times, in the course of the dance we discovered the life within a machine. It was like a give and take between iron and flesh,” he added. Exploring the power and grace of the relationship, Dominique Boivin's choreography expands the tradition of dance. Since its creation in 2005, ‘Transport Exceptionnels' has been screened across the globe and will be screened next in Brazil.
