Monday, September 05, 2011
Attack Theatre involves audience in 'What?'
Post Gazette: People typically don't get to know the tricks behind a magician's wizardry or the secret ingredients at the heart of a superb meal. But Attack Theatre -- dubbed Pittsburgh's modern dance chameleon for its unpredictable, ever-evolving performance aesthetic -- will let audiences in on the steps behind the choreography with its 16th season opener, "What?"
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7 comments:
I find that Attack Theater has an interesting approach to art making here, and the inclusion of audience members during such a premature time in the development of "What?" can go one of two ways. By allowing audience members to be a part of the creation of this dance project, i feel their presence might be, a- helpful in keeping dancers moving and collaborating or b- a bit unnerving for dancers who feel they must perform at the very time they should be only thinking, creating, preparing. It is difficult for me personally to create art while I am being watched by others, and I know that my creation would somehow be skewed if in fact an audience was monitoring my creative process. But yet, maybe that social element of audience supervision would make for an even more interesting product! If in fact constant viewing of the abstract piece had been skewed by this third part element, it could possibly be for the better.
The idea of “Attack Theatre” is intriguing. The company can take an idea and develop it in front of a unsuspecting audience. It gives people a chance to see something that they may not “go” see. Theatre is not as popular as movies or even staying home and watching a Netflix. Attack Theatre brings the entertainment to the people while giving them something to think about. Who knows, maybe this form of performance will encourage some people to come back to the theatre.
My first reaction to this idea was "I hope their audience isn't shy!" I could see this turning into a really amazing and constructive back-and-forth conversation, but at the same time I could see it playing out so that the artists are doing much more giving than taking. I think that having an audience that is informed on and somewhat experienced in the world of dance would be useful. I'm very intrigued to see how people who may not think of themselves as theatre, dance, or arts kind of people will react and participate in the process. I think that the members of Attack Theatre are extremely brave for opening up their art so directly to criticism and other opinions. These dancers and creators are putting themselves in a vulnerable situation. I really do think it will pay off for them. This piece will be a meeting of so many minds, and hopefully that will allow for more people to be able to connect to it down the road.
I find this process to be pretty fascinating, but I feel that is also has a potential to become stressful for the creative team; it really depends on the makeup of the audience. For example, if the team consistently received contradictory feedback, the process of incorporating audience input could get pretty frustrating.
However, I love that Attack Theatre has decided to allow the general public to influence this creation. It can be easy for theater artists to forget that theater is FOR the general public, not just their own company or other theater people.
Most of the time, people like to keep their work secret and let the audiences just watch the "magic" unfold. But I think that every now and again, this is a great idea. It engages the audience in a new way and allows them to understand fully what goes into the performance they saw/will see. I feel like a lot of times people don't like something because they think it is inaccessible. But allowing them to see the process and not just the product, will make audiences understand better and hopefully connect more with the piece.
I really appreciate this opportunity for public interactive theater. The real joy of this social experiment will be watching how the "Attackers" take a collection of thoughts and from this compilation create a holistic performance. This laboratory-spirit of art making is exactly what keeps art moving forward. Bravo!
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