DANCE: PRESS BY PIERRE RIGAL
PREVIEW BY AMELIA GROOM
A man in a white walled cube is accompanied by a robotic arm and a plastic chair. The surveillance camera on the wall is recording his every move. As the ceiling starts to lower and the box contracts, the man moves and contorts his body in physically ingenious and hypnotic ways, responding to the changing space.
A reflection on diminishing personal space and the pressures of the modern world, Press is a new solo work by French performer Pierre Rigal. A former athlete and music video director, Rigal studied mathematics, economics, and cinema studies. With such a diverse professional and academic background, I asked him how he ended up in choreography and dance…
‘For me it was actually quite a natural transition,’ he said, ‘as an athlete I specialised in 400m hurdles, so I had to find the best ways to get through obstacles. With Press it’s a similar process – I have to find the best and most efficient movements to overcome obstacles in a changing space.’
‘My ideas about movement are also linked with my sporting background. My first goal is not to be beautiful but to be efficient. After the efficiency is very high we can find beauty and poetry in the movement, but the first thing is that it should be an answer to a problem ‘ it should have a motive.’
You can also trace in his work his background as a video director, he says. ‘In my former performances I used TVs and video footage quite centrally, and in Press there is still the reflection on that world ‘ the format of the set reminds us of cinema and television, and also there is the surveillance camera on stage.’
The concept of a space that’s decreasing came to Rigal in a roundabout way. ‘When I went to the Gate Theatre in London [who commissioned Press], I was surprised that even though it’s a prominent theatre, it’s a very small space. I’m used to using a lot of space and my first reaction was to say, ‘I don’t know if I can do anything here’ – but I came to realise I should use the limitation, and so it became my central theme.’
‘While I think the audience has apathy for this character who is in danger, he has a kind of ignorance of that danger. Human beings at the moment don’t have much awareness of the dangers they are faced with in the earth. Well, it’s not dogmatic and nihilistic like that – but those are some of the things I’m exploring.’
While it’s quite a dark worldview, says Rigal, there is humour too. ‘The character is trying all the time to have good faith, to be happy with his situation, and there is a distance between the character and his dangers.’
Of course, the comic appeal varies depending on the audience. ‘When I performed it in London I noticed they laugh a lot – in France I think we are more serious about danger and death, but in England the humour was really enjoyed by the audience,’ says Rigal, ‘and I imagine it will be the same in Australia.’
Press
September 1-7
Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House
Tickets: $30-$48, 9250 7777, www.sydneyoperahouse.com
