Jerome Bel’s eponymous minimalist piece was one of the highlights of NOTT Dance 99, organised with Dance 4. Even though the French dancer and choreographer, Jérôme Bel, is mostly unknown in the UK, the show was sold out.
In Jerome Bel by Jerome Bel, the choreographer transcends typical dance structures and gives a new dimension to choreography. He steps aside from the figuration of classical ballet, the shattering of movement of modern dance and the abstraction of contemporary dance. Bel pushes all the boundaries to finally touch something more intimate : the human body as a primary dance instrument.
« A dance performance », Bel says, « is composed by light, music and movement » and these three elements are the only ones upon which his show is based. In his choreographic research he proceeds to real purification to limit himself to the essential : no costumes, no supporting music and no complex lighting, the bodies are naked, the music is sung by one of the performers and the only lighting is a bulb, carried by another performer. Bel refuses any artificiality whatsoever, thus creating an intense and new relationship between the performers and the audience. (…)
The performer’s nudity allows a new kind of choreography : Bel sacrifices arabesques, splits, movements following the rhythm of a musical score (all exterior to the human body) and privileges more intimate movements occurring inside the body itself. (…) This show is not a succession of disparate movements without continuity. Everything has an intrinsic logic and meaning. One movement leads to another. This chain reaction culminates in the final scene where one can perhaps find the message of the performance. (…)
In Jerome Bel by Jerome Bel, the choreographer transcends typical dance structures and gives a new dimension to choreography. He steps aside from the figuration of classical ballet, the shattering of movement of modern dance and the abstraction of contemporary dance. Bel pushes all the boundaries to finally touch something more intimate : the human body as a primary dance instrument.
« A dance performance », Bel says, « is composed by light, music and movement » and these three elements are the only ones upon which his show is based. In his choreographic research he proceeds to real purification to limit himself to the essential : no costumes, no supporting music and no complex lighting, the bodies are naked, the music is sung by one of the performers and the only lighting is a bulb, carried by another performer. Bel refuses any artificiality whatsoever, thus creating an intense and new relationship between the performers and the audience. (…)
The performer’s nudity allows a new kind of choreography : Bel sacrifices arabesques, splits, movements following the rhythm of a musical score (all exterior to the human body) and privileges more intimate movements occurring inside the body itself. (…) This show is not a succession of disparate movements without continuity. Everything has an intrinsic logic and meaning. One movement leads to another. This chain reaction culminates in the final scene where one can perhaps find the message of the performance. (…)
