The Ballad of the Critic and The Magnetic Ballerina

First Pass: Three's A Crowd, Visual Review...

images by Andy Catlin

Interview with Emma King, Theatre Jinks

First of all, can I ask you about Theatre Jinks: what is the mission of the company, and how did it start?Theatre Jinks' roots sprouted in 2012 when Cat Elliott and myself studied together on the Diploma in Physical Theatre Practice at Fife college. We studied puppetry as part of the course and that is where our interest in puppetry began. Once graduated, we started attending any puppetry workshops we could find to develop our skills.

Is manipulate a good place to share your work; do you share any affinities with PAS?

Manipulate is a brilliant festival, this will be the third year I have attended (first year as part of the programme). There is always a great mix of work on offer for audiences interested in animation, physical theatre, puppetry and visual theatre. The Snap Shots artists@work slots at 6:05pm during the festival are a great opportunity to display new works in development. Work is presented and then there is a question and answer session with the audience. It's really useful platform to promote new companies and new work.

Horror- seems to be a theme in this year's festival! What attracts you to the subject, and why visual theatre/puppetry as a medium?

Horror is a very rich theme, it can be very subtle and menacing or extreme blood, guts and gore. When we started developing our ideas for Knock Knock... We decided we wanted to create a performance in the style of a horror for young people. 

For younger audiences I sometimes feel performances can be a little too safe, and having horror as an element really pushes you to see how far you can go and still ensure it is suitable for your audience. Horror is an element of most stories. Puppetry and visual theatre was the natural choice; horror is mystery, magic, suspense and fear and I really feel that these mediums represent those in different and interesting ways. 

 Puppet Animation Scotland have been an integral part of our professional development with them running Manipulate masterclasses and regular workshops with Rene Baker over the past couple of years. 

As Theatre Jinks Knock Knock... is our first venture into creating a piece of visual/puppet theatre. Puppet Animation Scotland have been supporting us through the process, enabling us access to meet with established puppeteers and Theatre makers, notably Rene Baker who has been mentoring us throughout and Richard Medrington. 


Identity is another powerful theme to address - is it related to your exploration of horror, and are puppets good performers for such a discussion?

Identity is related to our exploration of horror, but actually I would say it is maybe the other way round. Puppets are really good at exploring identity, because they can be representative of so many things. 

We have been exploring twins as part of our development, and puppets have been very useful for this because you can really present two characters who are actual replicas of each other, but are completely different. 


(I have this big idea that Oedipus was the first horror story, and it is all about identity - I am going to ask you whether you think there is anything in that idea?)
Oedipus...yeah I think there is horror in there,and definitely identity, I feel that the horror comes from the curse/prophecy which follows him, there is no way out for him, he is fated to fulfil it.

Milter talks about dance, I ponder

Slipping on my amazing significance seeking spectacles, I return to the interview with Andrea Miltner. 

Having recently purchased the Aristotle 2000 (Guaranteed to Reduce any Performance to a series of Twitter-Ready Tags), I have been busy sticking labels on every show that I have seen since Curious Orange in 1988. However, Miltner makes a trenchant point about the nature of dance, which has made Aristotle 2000 show an error message. 

That to me is the magic of dance - it can give a greater freedom to the audience to allow their own imaginations to be at play and to react on a more instinctive, sensory level, rather than on an intellectual one.

Anxiety about reading meaning into everything aside, this brings me closer to the reasons for my love affair with dance, and my slight - but often exaggerated - suspicion of 'scripted' theatre. The combination of a more sensuous, physical response (like the bit during Park when I found myself moving in my seat as the Jasmin Vardimon company bounced to The Popcorn Song) and the importance of the audience in making the meaning.

She goes on to explore the tensions between her work as a ballet

dancer and the determinedly contemporary nature of Magnetic Ballerina, and how 'freedom' can limit creativity - all fascinating stuff, and intriguing me all the more about the performance. Then she elaborates on the role of the audience.

I hope the public will come without any preconceived ideas and just experience the piece with an open mind and find in it what they will.

Sadly, I am going to be bringing preconceptions - that I am really going to enjoy this work. But Miltner displays a generosity to the audience ('find in it what they will') that goes beyond the frequently vague assertion that 'it's about whatever you think it is.' That is true, of course (giving the maker the monopoly of meaning ignores the history and context that the audience bring to an event). But it is the particular fluidity and allusiveness of dance that allows more freedom: less rhetorical than words, movement opens up the play of mind and matter... subject and object... am I objectifying, creating an unnecessary dualism... or do I just love dance when it touches me and seeds a new way of seeing?

Another Example of Brilliant Criticism... sigh

Andrea Miltner's Dance of the Magnetic Ballerina is one of the most anticipated shows in this year's manipulate. I sent over a few questions and in my first, manage to miss the point... Read on....Reading your biography, I noticed that it mentioned 'the baroque': do you have a special interest in the baroque - and what inspired this?

I would say I have a passion for baroque dance, music and sculpture, which was inspired over ten years ago by a very enriching experience dancing in an authentic production of Rameau's Castor and Pollux at the National Theatre in Prague. I was very privileged to work on this production - the creative team was French, all of whom were both experts and enthusiasts of the baroque and their love of their particular field of knowledge was contagious.

Living in Prague this fascination is nourished on a daily basis, since much of the old town is baroque and the wonderful spirals of baroque statuary are everywhere. What fascinates me about the dance style is its deep association with the music (interestingly the dancing master accompanied rehearsals on a 'pochette', a small violin, which is indicative of the musical intelligence of the dancers at the time), its complex rhythms and its use of space. It is these aspects that influence my own creations when working in the baroque style.

However Dance of the Magnetic Ballerina is a different genre altogether and has nothing to do with the baroque!

Andrea Miltnerova

Rooted to the spot on a platform surrounded by light, the magnetic ballerina flutters, shivers and shimmers for her audience. Stark and intensely beautiful, this is the UK premiere of Czech artist Andrea Miltnerova’s striking dance solo.

Alone in a darkened auditorium, the magnetic ballerina will dance her way into our subconscious.

“Obsessive discipline, obsessive symmetry, authoritative geometry of movement annihilate her magnetic ballerina, from which there is no other way out than self destruction. It is, of course, ravishingly beautiful and a thrilling self-destruction through movement” (Nina Vangeli, Dance Zone, Czech Republic)

Ontology of Visual Theatre

Philippos Philippou on Ubu Roi and Visual Theatre

I always wanted to explore visual theatre. Ubu Roi's absurd structure offers the opportunity for wide experimentation on the level of form. In fact, the play is the precursor of the theatre of absurd. 

The story unfolds rapidly in many countries in Europe; from France to Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Livonia and finally from the Baltics through Germany and Hamlet’s Elsinore to the North Sea. That in itself provides the opportunity either for a heterogeneous stage design or for the succession of different sets. 

The stage designers and Jarry himself produced a painted backdrop which combined extreme simplification and stylisation. The backdrop depicted owls, elephants, palm trees and a fireplace in relation to the carnival style costumes which lacked local references and did not recall any historical period. The play offers the chance to play with many heterogeneous elements in order to envision Jarry’s notion of the Nowhere/Everywhere.

MIRO

When I studied the play during my Masters, I discovered that many artists dealt with Ubu Roi. Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Jean Miro. The latter, created some extraordinary lithographs based on Ubu Roi in order to ridicule the dictator Franco in Spain. Our performance pays homage to their heritage while placing it in dialogue with the advent of new visual technologies.

Carlo Massari interview

From the website: 

A perfect day , a perfect world, then at some point all becomes twisted.
It seems a tragedy , it seems the inspiration for a prologue, it seems a true story, it seems the end of a world, in the world.
Everything for the hand of man ... for proclamation of freedom, achievement, interest, and beauty. Do you love me or kill me?
We report here on a dreamlike past, yet contemporary, disturbed and inappropriate.
It seems the excitement of the strong things, it seems unique, it seems the only goal, it seems flesh, blood...Then BANG!
Just a shot and it all ends... Of what has been, in the writings traces remain of desperate lovers, tortured feelings of immense sadness and tears. We have not changed that much. Everything still revolves around love and in its eternal contrast.
Let the work root into the why and how of something powerful, strong, huge!
We analyze the nature of the restraint and the pursuit of absolute freedom, the current one, our daily one. We are inspired by the true facts of the crime, true.
In one way or another we try to have our say and not to leave a reaction-relationship unfinished , we are also part of this time, in the end.
What is left of the myth?
A first study on the work of Wagner, a source of inspiration to investigate on.
A careful listening to the song and its majesty. The discovery of the modernity of the Opera, a similar picture, but far from the Middle Ages.
The Wagnerian Opera instigates not only to make tragedies; it is a fact, a divine melody.
Take a head, an incipit, an unforgettable sample, forever... and then weigh it ... What was it? What's this? What will remain?

My experience of your work so far has been that it is spiritual, longing for meaning, sexy and rough: am I just being weird or is this a fair assessment?

Maybe we are weird...!

No, really, you actually got it quite right. We aim at finding rather a crude and straightforward language so that people can be shaken by it while recognising and acknowledging themselves as part of a humanity that belongs to them and that they belong to.

This time, you talk of Wagner - are you an enthusiast?
Maybe we are more depressed than enthusiastic.

What drew you to him in particular?
It is maybe the need to deal with such a feeling of sadness and melancholy that pushed us to looking at Wagner. Wagner is very emotional and tragically ended. As usual, we want to ironically approach the universal dichotomy good and evil.

From what you know of manipulate, is it a good fit for your work?
Considering the quality of the programme we are honoured to be part of this festival.

How do you approach making a new work - do you have a particular dramaturgy?

Our dramaturgy stems from the body. It is based on physical relations and actions aimed at codifying feelings and stories of life and within our society. Our new works are engendered by intuitions, by the desire to speak about something in particular like visions of today’s world, hope, or future pessimisms.

What does remain at the end of a performance?

Memory.


How do you understand the function of art? 

“Je suis liberté d'expression”. I am freedom of expression.

Claire Lamond @ Manipulate

Scotland is at the heart of her work - even down to the clothes that the climate encourages.  'My feelings and observations about Scotland, both conscious and subconscious, are massive influences,' she says. 'Woollens and textiles to keep warm with for a start!' She does, however, have a passion for Scottish art. 

'I've ended up having lots of shots in my films focussing on faces showing moments of unspoken words that simmer under the surface but that we're culturally afraid to say. I suppose I've gleaned this interpretation of our culture from all sorts of creators: writers like Anne Donovan, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Iain Crichton Smith: poets like Liz Lochhead, Christine de Luca; artists like Victoria Crowe, Ken Currie.'

Five Reasons Why Paper Doll Militia Will Rock You

1. They are called Paper Doll Militia
What's not to love in this name? They have been called the love-child of Tim Burton and Trent Reznor (by a critic with a greater gift than mine), and the name evokes whimsical fun and hardcore art action in three words. 

2. They did it last year
Their short piece at manipulate 2014 last year was an elegant spectacle of white silk and spiralling skills - an abstract, evocative and forceful display of strength. Both technically and emotionally powerful, it presented a duo who could use physical theatre as a medium for direct, stunning, self impression.

3. They've gone metal
This year's entry, Unchained, swaps the silks for chains, raising the game and bringing an uncompromising symbolism into the very apparatus that they use. With themes of oppression and betrayal, Unchained is a heavier outing (with a few industrial touches in the soundtrack).

4. It's not all circus
The Militia are as much about the choreography as the swinging about the rooftops: apart from taking on a serious subject - and refusing some dull rhetorical lecture on betrayal - they use the dark poetry of physical theatre to go beyond the tricks and go to work on the subject.

5. This one's ecriture feminine
That is: this is no narrative based story with an easy interpretation. It swings and soars, both literally and metaphorically, working with a non-linear approach and delving into symbolism, meaning and action through a variety of attacks. No simple answers, only the invitation for an audience to get thinking...

SVEN! Come to manipulate 2015

Werner has even arranged his transport to the traverse

Sven Werner first came to Glasgow's attention through Cryptic and his Tales of Magical Realism: most recently he took his peep-show performance around the stations of Scotland, evoking the magic of train travel as a finale to Homecoming Year. His distinctive fusion of film, music, storytelling and intelligent, immersive live performance makes him a hard artist to categorise, but an easy one to enjoy.

Given Werner's enthusiasms for the visual, he's bound to come across to manipulate 2015, but he'll need some help selecting which events he'd enjoy. Luckily, I'll stop at nothing to ensure that he has a good time. These suggestions, of course, would also stand for anyone who enjoys the tainted nostalgia and sinister journeys that Werner plots.

Mr Carmen (Theatre Akhe)
In some ways, it's too easy to recommend Akhe; they have been regular visitors to Scotland over the past decade, and their approach to theatre (they call it architecture) highlights the importance of scenography, as the set becomes a character in their productions. Mr Carmen has the vigorous energy associated with Russian experimental theatre, a surreal atmosphere and a play-off between the two performers and their constantly evolving set.

Power and Puppets (Claire Lamond)
Lamond shares three of her own works and a selection of animations that have inspired her. Politics is at the heart of these shorts, but expressed in an intimate and personal way.

Autumn Portraits (Sandglass)
It's melancholic, it's bunraku puppetry (the type with the men in black), it has five connected vignettes, it asks big questions about the nature of aging. What's not to love?

Oppressed Creatures (Ulo Pikkov)
Animation fun from one of Estonia's favourite animators; dark humour and surreal worlds, with some bonus shorts from Poland.

Manipulate 2015: an introduction

Although 'festival' has become a bit of a buzzword (it gets applied to anything that isn't a one-off event), manipulate has remained loyal to its possibilities as a celebration of a particular strand of performance, and advances the presence of 'visual art' within Scotland. Combining support for local and emerging artists, notably through the free Snapshots programme, and the presentation of internationally acclaimed artists, it encompasses both the eclecticism of the medium and the dynamic curatorial instinctives of artistic director Simon Hart.

Every year, manipulate inspires a discussion around the definition of visual art. Since this year's selections include choreography (The Dance of the Magnetic Ballerina), puppetry (Autumn Portraits) and circus (Unchained), Hart's definition refuses to draw clear limitation. The emphasis on the moving image as the carrier of information (moving, because it is theatre, and image rather than relying more on, say, script or music) becomes the chief characteristic, and one that allows the parallel programme of animated film to sit comfortably within the festival.

Manipulate manages to satisfy audiences unfamiliar with visual theatre (the quality of the photographs advertising each piece is likely to draw in new crowds) by offering an overview of the state of the art: equally, the programme's survey of international companies, and the workshops, brings new experiences for the veteran fan or artist. Unlike the Edinburgh Fringe, which is eclectic but lacks much curation, manipulate is a concentrated burst of specific performance. 

DANCE OF THE MAGNETIC BALLERINA

T R I S T I S S I M O

Of what has been, in the writings traces remain of desperate lovers, tortured feelings of immense sadness and tears. We have not changed that much. Everything still revolves around love and in its eternal contrast.

Let the work root into the why and how of something powerful, strong, huge!

We analyze the nature of the restraint and the pursuit of absolute freedom, the current one, our daily one. We are inspired by the true facts of the crime, true.

In one way or another we try to have our say and not to leave a reaction-relationship unfinished, we are also part of this time, in the end.

What is left of the myth?

A first study on the work of Wagner, a source of inspiration to investigate on.

A careful listening to the song and its majesty. The discovery of the modernity of the Opera, a similar picture, but far from the Middle Ages.

The Wagnerian Opera instigates not only to make tragedies; it is a fact, a divine melody.

Take a head, an incipit, an unforgettable sample, forever... and then weigh it ... What was it? What's this? What will remain?

Strike a Light: Rox Vox: That's it

The Ontology of Puppets

Manipulated Comics

ANIMATED NIGHTMARES- INTERVIEW WITH WITH ROBERT MORGAN

Robert Morgan is a multi award winning filmmaker.

He was raised in the cursed town of Yateley, England. At the tender age of three, he developed a passion for cinema when he saw Fiend Without A Face (1958) on an 8mm projector. As a result, he became a weird kid obsessed with monsters and the things that hide under rocks.

He recently finished making a new short film, and is now developing various feature length projects.

He lives in a haunted house in London. 

The event that you are hosting focuses on horror within animation: is there anything about the nature of animation that makes it a strong medium for horror stories?

I certainly think stop-motion animation lends itself to horror, in numerous ways. Other types of animation, I'm not so sure. But stop-motion is inherently an uncanny medium. It deals with bringing dead - or lifeless - things to life, but it brings them life in a strange, mechanical, uncanny way. Personally I've always found that it lends itself more to weird and disturbing stories than the comedy its mostly used for.

I believe (I read it on wikipedia, so I need to be careful...) that you studied fine art - what encouraged you to work in animation from this background?

Yes, that's correct. I guess what encouraged me was that animation seemed like a nice easy bridge between fine art and film. I always wanted to make films, but I didn't know how. However, I could draw and make things, so making those things move, frame by frame, seemed like an easier step than suddenly working with actors.

Is manipulate a good match for your work?
I've never been to manipulate before, but from what I know - i.e. that it is a celebration of puppetry - yes I think its a good match. I use puppets in my films all the time.

How do you feel animation is regarded, culturally - does it still retain the stigma of being 'cartoons for kids'?

There is still that view, yes. But that's mainly in the world of feature films, which is hopelessly out of touch with animation's potential for all kinds of stories. In the world of short films, I don't think there's as much of that stigma.

Do you regard your work within a particular horror tradition?
Not particularly. But if I had to align myself with anything, I'd say that it belongs more to a weirder, arthouse tradition in horror films exemplified by the likes of David Cronenberg, Polanski, Lynch, Svankmajer, or the weird fiction of people like Thomas Ligotti, or the weird art of people like Alfred Kubin. But that's a pretty rag-tag bunch. I think that's a pretty vague tradition, actually.

POLINA BORISOVA, RUSSIA: CLYDEBUILT, MACBAG: LUDENS ENSEMBLE, UBU ROU

Three’s A Crowd @ Traverse

Scotland’s All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre will premiere their new touring production, Three’s A Crowd, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on Saturday 31 January 2015, as part of the 8th Manipulate Festival, the international festival of visual theatre and film. It will then tour to eight venues in Scotland and Wales from February to June 2015.



Three’s A Crowd crosses the boundaries between ground and air, expertly merging harness flying, aerial acrobatics,contemporary circus and dance theatre to create an exciting, challenging and spectacular show that delves deep into the inner workings of human relationships.

Inspired by the themes of action, reaction and consequence, and how we all affect each other, Three’s A Crowd is set around a reunion of six friends. Who brings them together? How are the characters connected? What really lies beneath the surface as the layers are peeled back? What happens to the friendship dynamic, to each individual, when a third element becomes involved? When individual memories and perceptions differ what are the results?

This dynamic, energetic, humorous, yet equally endearing show that explores human emotions is deftly told, using stunning imagery and breathtaking aerial skills, by six leading international performing artists - Danuta Ramos, Freya Jeffs, Chrissie Ardill, Tony Mills, Rob Heaslip and Itxaso Moreno.


Three's A Crowd is directed by Jennifer Paterson, Artistic Director of All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre; with creative collaboration from writer Zoe Venditozzi and choreographer Brigid McCarthy. The show has been designed by Becky Minto, with lighting design by Kate Bonney, and is set to a powerful new score by Luke Sutherland.

The creative team have a vast array of experience: Jennifer Paterson was part of the aerial team who entertained at the London Olympic ceremonies and has performed for companies such as National Theatre Scotland, Becky Minto designed the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, Kate Bonney is the lighting designer on Enchanted Forest and Luke Sutherland is a prolific musician and composer who played with Mogwai on their last tour.

Three’s A Crowd – Tour Listings Information
The Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED
Part of the Manipulate Festival, the international festival of visual theatre and film
Date: 31 January 2015
Box Office: 0131 228 1404 | http://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on| boxoffice@traverse.co.uk

Birse and Feughside Church (Finzean Church), Finzean, Aberdeenshire AB31 6NY
Date: 5 February 2015
Tickets and Box Office: www.neatshows.co.uk

Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness IV3 5SA
Date: 7 February 2015
Time: 20:00
Box Office: 01463 234 234 | http://www.eden-court.co.uk/box-office

Macrobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA
Date: 26 February 2015
Time: 20:00
Box Office: 01786 466 666 | www.macrobert.org

Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre, Kingsway, Newport NP20 1HG
Date: 5 March 2015
Time 19.30
Box Office: 01633 656 679 | http://www.newport.gov.uk/riverfront

Cumbernauld Theatre, Kildrum, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire G67 2BN
Date: 13 March 2015
Time: 19:30
Tickets: £14, £12 conc
Box Office: 01236 732 887 | http://www.cumbernauldtheatre.co.uk/all-events

The Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock PA15 1EQ
Date: 19 March 2015
Time: 19:30
Tickets: £12, £10 conc
Box Office: 01475 723 723 | www.beaconartscentre.co.uk

Dundee Rep Theatre, Tay Square, Dundee, Dundee City DD1 1PB
Date: 9 May 2015,
Time: 20:00
Tickets: £12
Box Office: 01382 223 530 | http://www.dundeerep.co.uk/events/

Western Baths, 12 Cranworth Street, Glasgow G12 8BZ
As part of the Cottier Chamber Project 2015
Date: 22 June 2015
Time: 19.00
Tickets & Box Office: www.cottierchamberproject.com