TribLIVE: Laughter resounded at the U.S. premiere of Martin Zimmermann and Dimitri de Perrot's “Hans was Heiri” Wednesday night at the August Wilson Center, Downtown. The show is part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's International Festival of Firsts and its Pittsburgh Dance Council season.
“Hans was Heiri,” which will be repeated Oct. 17 and 18, is a 75-minute entertainment without narrative, a sequence of routines ranging from slapstick to satire. It draws freely from many genres, particularly the amalgam of physical comedy and mime familiar from circus acts. Dance per se is minimal.
5 comments:
I had intended to see this production but crew calls got in the way. That being said, I enjoyed at least reading this article about it. I am amazed that the structure rotated multiple times per minute. I am curious as to what kind of technology/automation there was that operated this. I am also impressed that live music was used during the show. I feel that this able to respond to the comedy and pace of the show much more fluidly than a canned recording. The concept of playing with gravity reminds me of outer-space and the plane NASA uses to mimic weightlessness on Earth.
I saw this show, and I thought it was simply fantastic. Perhaps the most stunning element was the heightened sense of awe. Many times, shows have a dramatic arc. They build to a moment that takes our breath away, then relax and rebuild to the next moment. de Perrot maintained our attention, and perpetually astounded the audience. While the elements remained the same, their uses varied from scene to scene, creating a palpably contagious sense of wonder and ingenuity. Yet as this review states, there was no plot, however there was most definitely characters and a sense of continuity between them. This consistency prevented the show from becoming “gimmicky.” Instead, each of the performer’s extraordinary physical capabilities made it so that while stunning, I was never worried about their safety. All that was left to do was to go to their world, and be captivated. A spectacular evening!
I unfortunately did not get to see this show but i did help load it out of the august wilson center and the rig is a very well and simplistically created piece. As a whole the vertical turntable was driven by a 400 watt motor that was controlled by an Express 120 light board. The rig was very impressive and the crew that toured with the show were a delight to work with. At the top of the call the first thing that touring crew was tell all of the local crew that ran the show to hop on and play while they spun the set around.
This show as visually beautiful. Distorting gravity, or giving the appearance of, provides for a surreal landscape that leaves every jaw in the audience hanging loose. Unfortunately, as gorgeous as the moments were in this show, I had a difficult time following the story of the performance and found myself at times struggling to understand what I was seeing. The technology behind the rotating box is something I would love to learn more about, especially if I could get a peek of the blueprints showing the labyrinth of passages connecting the rotating rooms.
I was lucky enough to see this show; I thought it was mesmerizing, but still had its flaws. To start with the positive, the actors/acrobats/circus performers were beyond talented. Of course the element that stole the show was in fact, the rotating cube in which the performers tumbled, hung from, and ran around. Unfortunately the show tried to create scenarios outside of the cube (perhaps to lengthen the piece) which paled in comparison to the focal point of the show. Basically, all elements that took place in the contraption was mesmerizing, while all the additional scenes amounted to petty clowning. I also found it odd that only one performer spoke, while the others talked in gibberish. If the creative team put as much effort and specificity into the scenes outside of the cube as much as they did to those inside, it would be an ever stronger piece.
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