".. and let some of the bruise blood come out"
August 25, 2018 5:30 PM Subscribe
"Come Out", Steve Reich's Civil Rights era phase change piece as choreographed by Anne Teresa, Baroness De Keersmaeker.
Danced by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Tale Dolven. Voice by Daniel Hamm.
(SLYT,1982).
You're probably familiar with the music and it's combination of historical significance and annoyance value.
This dance performance though. It's amazing.
You're probably familiar with the music and it's combination of historical significance and annoyance value.
This dance performance though. It's amazing.
I had no idea this sample was from a longer work. I only knew it from Tortoise - Djed (Bruise Blood Mix) where it appears at the beginning and the end.
posted by Catblack at 6:06 PM on August 25, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 6:06 PM on August 25, 2018 [4 favorites]
I had found a record with this track slightly before the Tortoise remix came out, after which there was some discussion about the track and this was probably also around the time that Modulations came out. There was a bit of an oldschool resurgence in the second half of the 90s.
Here's an interesting remix by imaginative-guy Ken Ishii from the pretty-good Reich Remixed.
posted by rhizome at 6:33 PM on August 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Here's an interesting remix by imaginative-guy Ken Ishii from the pretty-good Reich Remixed.
posted by rhizome at 6:33 PM on August 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Why are they sitting?
posted by benzenedream at 6:51 PM on August 25, 2018
posted by benzenedream at 6:51 PM on August 25, 2018
Wow, that's fucking brilliant, as a dance and as a film. Thanks for posting it! I'd read about the piece before, but never actually saw it. De Keersmaeker was all of 21/22 when she choreographed that?! Incredible.
There should be some mention too of Thierry De Mey who directed the film, guided by De Keersmaeker's input presumably, Rudi Maerten who edited the footage, and Michel Houssiau who did the lighting design, some of which, I assume, was influenced by the stage versions, since filming dance is really difficult and the video is almost as good as the dance itself really.
Here's a link to the full dance concert Fase, four movements to the music of Steve Reich. The video quality isn't as good as the Come Out clip, but I can't find a full 22 minute version of Piano Phase, the first section, elsewhere. Come out is the second section, Violin Phase, the third section, and Clapping the fourth and final section of the work. (The links to the last two are of better quality than in the whole concert link.)
Why are they sitting?
I can't say for sure, but a number of possibilities present themselves when taking the work as a whole. The first section uses the horizontal plane of the stage as the dancers primarily move side to side before moving forward and then back to their original positions, Come Out then has the dancers in a fixed position emphasizing more the vertical plane while they circle in place on their chairs, the third section has only one dancer who moves in a circle around the stage, linking movements of the first two sections and taking them further. The short fourth section has two dancers again, unseated, repeatedly rising to their toes as part of the piece. (In the video those clapping can also be occasionally seen.)
Immobility also can potentially be seen as part of the theme of the section, if one takes the violent movements of the dancers as carrying some idea of the forces being enacted upon them as much as chosen. The inability to move then can add a further sense of force to the actions as they whip forward and back or snap their arms back or to their necks, make cutting motions across their bodies and jerk their heads back and forth. Those movements, along with the lighting and camera work that suggests at times attempts to disassociate from the action, before being drawn back to it, carries at least some hint of the violence that inspired the Reich piece originally. The added sound elements and occasionally violent editing too adds to that feeling.
There is also quite possibly a pragmatic element to it as the first section is 22 minutes long and features a lot of movement, spinning particularly, from the dancers, so a seated section provides some opportunity to rest the legs as well.
posted by gusottertrout at 10:05 PM on August 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
There should be some mention too of Thierry De Mey who directed the film, guided by De Keersmaeker's input presumably, Rudi Maerten who edited the footage, and Michel Houssiau who did the lighting design, some of which, I assume, was influenced by the stage versions, since filming dance is really difficult and the video is almost as good as the dance itself really.
Here's a link to the full dance concert Fase, four movements to the music of Steve Reich. The video quality isn't as good as the Come Out clip, but I can't find a full 22 minute version of Piano Phase, the first section, elsewhere. Come out is the second section, Violin Phase, the third section, and Clapping the fourth and final section of the work. (The links to the last two are of better quality than in the whole concert link.)
Why are they sitting?
I can't say for sure, but a number of possibilities present themselves when taking the work as a whole. The first section uses the horizontal plane of the stage as the dancers primarily move side to side before moving forward and then back to their original positions, Come Out then has the dancers in a fixed position emphasizing more the vertical plane while they circle in place on their chairs, the third section has only one dancer who moves in a circle around the stage, linking movements of the first two sections and taking them further. The short fourth section has two dancers again, unseated, repeatedly rising to their toes as part of the piece. (In the video those clapping can also be occasionally seen.)
Immobility also can potentially be seen as part of the theme of the section, if one takes the violent movements of the dancers as carrying some idea of the forces being enacted upon them as much as chosen. The inability to move then can add a further sense of force to the actions as they whip forward and back or snap their arms back or to their necks, make cutting motions across their bodies and jerk their heads back and forth. Those movements, along with the lighting and camera work that suggests at times attempts to disassociate from the action, before being drawn back to it, carries at least some hint of the violence that inspired the Reich piece originally. The added sound elements and occasionally violent editing too adds to that feeling.
There is also quite possibly a pragmatic element to it as the first section is 22 minutes long and features a lot of movement, spinning particularly, from the dancers, so a seated section provides some opportunity to rest the legs as well.
posted by gusottertrout at 10:05 PM on August 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
You're probably familiar with
Well I wasn't, and probably a fair number of other readers weren't either. Here's one summary I found.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:33 PM on August 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
Well I wasn't, and probably a fair number of other readers weren't either. Here's one summary I found.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:33 PM on August 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
Of all the system/minimalist composers of his era, I think Reich holds up the best at this remove. There's an extra layer to his work that's hard to define, especially on a per-piece basis, and harder to analyse, but is an intellectual and emotional engagement with the form to which I respond at a deeper level than for his peers. Perhaps that's why it can be so successful as the basis for dance, itself a long study on the balance between the mechanical dynamics of being human and our motive spirit.
posted by Devonian at 5:49 AM on August 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 5:49 AM on August 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by dobbs at 5:52 PM on August 25, 2018