WHAT I SAW AND WHAT I THOUGHT
Cosmonogy from Gilles Jobin Company
06-11-22You wouldn’t know it, but in the intimate downstairs studio theatre of the Arena Del Sole, Bologna, some millions of particles of three performers are making their way through cyberspace from a studio in Geneva, and are being arranged before an audience as avatars, varying in colours, shapes, species. The image is evocative of Mike TV and Wonkavision, ideas that once seemed so remarkably futuristic. But the future is now, and the Gilles Jobin Company is championing advancements in technology through the relatively new creative medium of digital-dance performance.
Cosmonogy is a unique performance that uses real time motion capture technology. Over the course of 30 minutes, the audience are hurtled through animated scenes of picturesque mountaintops, post-apocalyptic cityscapes, downtown Tokyo and the depths of outer space, encountering many moving bodies along the way. As I enter the theatre, three dancers, Susana Panadés Diaz, Rudi van der Merwe, Jozsef Trefeli, are already projected onto a screen, suited and booted in the excellently uncanny mocap costumes. Before the performance begins we are able to observe the trio stretching and chatting in their Geneva-based studio. All the whilst they peer back at us, as if we too are on display.
There is already so much curiosity in this great cyber-feat, and I am filled with inspiration and excitement from the moment I enter to the moment I depart the theatre.
The camera is a valuable member of this work, perhaps making it a quartet, performing just as intricate a choreography as its three co-stars. As audience members some 300 miles away, we are not able to see it but I imagine it like a sentient limb as it weaves in and out of the other bodies, allowing for the figures to float around the screen with immense fluidity. At one point it angles up and dives to create the image of a fall from above into a cityscape, spiralling through space in a manner reminiscent of an action packed superhero film. My body viscerally reacts; it tenses up and I pull my head back as if to amplify the experience - I’m well and truly invested in this digital-dance experience, so much so that I unconsciously impose myself as a moving part of it all. I think of Max Rynnanen’s idea of ‘Somavision’, and the incredible magic of cinema to evoke unconscious physical reactions in the body, like we are creating our own 4D theme park experience (I wonder if a 4D performance film is already underway…)
Later in the performance the CGI layer of the screen is made slightly transparent, revealing the features of our fleshy dancers moving in the studio. At first we see how their motion is directly choreographing the moves ‘performed’ by the avatars. Then suddenly, the timing shifts. The avatars are moving first, and their human counterparts are simply copying… or are they? This project presents a new age question- what comes first, the technology or the choreography?
In the post-show Q&A (an incredibly insightful and grounding part of the evening might I add), one of the performers explains how the energy of the avatars is extremely specific, and has hugely influenced the movement vocabulary of the work. There would be no benefit in performing an incredibly technical and choreographically dense routine, it is unlikely that such motion would translate effectively onto the avatars - and anyway, the futuristic visuals are dense enough. Instead, we get interested in simple movements; walking, looking around, peering into the camera, as well as the self-proclaimed ‘spooky actions’ that emerge from the cyborg-dance technique crafted specifically for this work. Jobin reminds us that, even when performed in a dance theatre, this is digital dance - it should look different and aspire to new aesthetics.
Aside from the choreography, I am thrilled in the moments when the avatars glitch. Feet slip through the animated ground, legs twitch upwards in unreplicatable positions, bodies temporarily freeze then jump back into action. It is as if the avatars momentarily take on a life of their own, uncontrollable in their desire to move. I am so enamoured by this that I am wondering whether there is even more potential in this work, namely an exploration of what else the avatars are capable of that goes beyond movements that our fairly limited human bodies ‘understand’.
The beautiful glitch would not happen if it were not for the fact that this is a live performance - a very crucial element of Jobin’s work. I get the feeling that he is often asked ‘Why not just make a film?’, to which he responds fluently that the film is static, unchangeable. In this live context, the work is able to evolve; it can be retouched and the company is able to respond to ideas and feedback, keeping the piece relevant and interesting for all involved.
They even have the option to do everything wrong if they so desire.
Jobin is also fluent in discussing the #tourwithouttraveling initiative that adds a different dimension to the relevance of digital performance works. Cosmonogy has reached audiences from Singapore to Bologna and various locations in between, all without leaving the Company's studio in Geneva. As a result, they can boast of (almost) zero carbon emissions whilst still achieving international acclaim through an invitation to the Sundance Film Festival. Jobin and the #tourwithouttraveling movement are not demanding a complete end to physical international touring. Rather encouraging us to rethink the impact touring has, and to use our creative spirit to invent new ways to reach a global audience. Despite the longstanding practice of the airborne dance company jetting from theatre to theatre, the world does not owe us an international tour so much as we owe the world a less destructive way to share our art.
P. S.
As a side observation, I wonder about the behaviour of an audience that knows they are coming to see a dance performance of sorts, thus are accustomed to the ‘live-ness’ of dancers. And then, when confronted with a screen, suddenly lose an element of real time observation- they forget to create a space of observational care. Suppressing my instinct to glare, I chose to passively observe the fact that some people were a lot more at ease to talk throughout the show (not in hushed tones might I add). I know that these same people do not talk in the cinema, a place where we are well versed with the concept of silence. I wonder if people are struggling to empathise with their cyborg performers; unable to recognise that behind the digital make-up exists flesh and bone humans who deserve a level of respect when performing, which is so simply delivered through silence. Or whether I am just being picky because I am enjoying myself too much…or if this is just a louder and more excitable audience than usual.
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Director Gilles Jobin
Dancers Susana Panadés Diaz, Rudi van der Merwe, Jozsef Trefeli
Lead Dance Artist Susana Panadés Diaz
Lead 3D Artist Tristan Siodlak
Lead Technologist Camilo de Martino
Lead Technical Artist Pierre-Igor Berthet
Motion Capture Pedro Ribot
Mocap cameras Qualisys
Music Tar Pond
Music Arrangement Marky Edelmann, Tommy Vetterli
Mastering Dan Suter / Echo Chamber
Administration Gonzague Bochud
Production manager Lucía Diaz-Tejeiro
Production Cie Gilles Jobin
With the support of the City and Canton of Geneva and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Read more about Gilles Jobin Company and future performances of Cosmonogy here ︎︎︎