Photo: Emilie Therese
There is no real fourth wall in 'Stamina'
Kasper Buus knows how to tickle his audience, when he welcomes us with a vacuum cleaner in hand. Dressed in fur and youthful sweat pants, he and Astrid Pauline Schmidt immediately bonds with the rain-wrapped people gathering in Bora Bora, Dance and Visual Theatre, in Aarhus. The two of them never roll up the window in order to keep a distance to our rain wet hair and climate dampened shooes. They both have twinkles in their eyes and heads up, the Don Gnu dancers have arrived for a reason: Let's celebrate life all together.
Don't be sad, let's have some fun
In a world of modestly depressing news, being it the wars to come or the rain to wash us all up on the climatical beach, it is rather refreshing to experience Don Gnu's 'Stamina' performance.
Two people - a man and a woman of unknown provenance - are meeting each other. They find love. Love is a balloon with helium and a long string attached. Somehow they let go of it, so it flew up under the roof. It's so high hanging, their fruit of true love, that they cannot get hold of it again.
How many ways is it possible to have bodily intimacy?
Ever had sex with multiple positions, like kamasutra? Forget about it. In 'Stamina' the two performers are breaking every record when it comes to positions. They clash every unbelivable part of their feet, knees, cheeks, backs, thighs to meet each other intimately.
After sex they lose contact. They quarrel. Fight each other in a way I never saw before on a dance floor. It's like every action movie ever made, be it Asian style or Hollywood, was really just an exploration of stunts needed in Don Gnu's 'Stamina'. It's so beautiful. The stunts we do in a fight look exactly like our stunts when we express love. I think.
How to fetch that first love and reconnect again?
'Stamina' is a performance with great acrobatics, slapstick, gags, stunts, dance, and our longing for true love. The two performers will succeed in getting the helium balloon down to earth, but we shall not spoil how.
You wonder now - looking at your partner sleeping in the moonlight - accompanied by the sound of seconds ticking away in the bedroom alarm clock - how to fetch that first love once again? How to refind the spark of life?
Go and look. 'Stamina' just might tell you. Enjoy.
Stamina, by Don Gnu / Ung Gnu
Performance and choreographic material: Astrid Pauline Schmidt & Kasper Buus
Direction & choreography: Jannik Elkær
Artistic sparring: Kristoffer Louis Andrup Pedersen
Assistant choreographer and rehearsal director: Jeppe Kaas Vad
Sound design: Markus Artved
Producer team: Kathrine Kihm & Malene Cathrine Pedersen
Co-produced by: Aveny-T & Bora Bora - dance and visual theater
Supported by: Aarhus Municipality & Statens Kunstfond
Photographer: Emilie Theresa and Mikkel Suppras.
FAQ: What is the title of Ung Gnu's new show?
Don Gnu has created the acrobatic and highly entertaining dance performance 'Stamina', which is performed by Ung Gnu.
Ambiorn Happy, Kulturnyt.net
★★★★★★
beskytter