ArtSpoken & Reviews
Asymptotes of a symptomatic societyFNB Dance Umbrella 201003/11/2010 15:59:51 
Nondumiso Msimanga: Frauke transforms her body and our minds through her calculated dance.The Ankoku Butoh dancer gives another skin tingling performance in Asymptote. It's a mannequin. It's a ghost. It's an alien. Yes, it's Frauke! The Ankoku Butoh dancer gives another skin tingling performance in her work Asymptote. Ankoku Butoh is an avant-garde Japanese form of dance that not only defies definition but the dance form itself. It is centred on the body and the body's relation to the universe in a way that is mysterious and oddly beautiful. When you buy a ticket to see Frauke, you know that you are about to see something different. But, when you walk into the theatre and you see a white mannequin at the corner of a white stage with a white wall, wearing light white materials that loosely billow to the small gusts of wind flowing in. You do not quite expect that mannequin to begin to creep slowly toward you to a sound that has become assimilated to the anxious beat of your own heart. Frauke suddenly materializes in front of your eyes as though she were a ghost from a vintage horror movie, painted all white. Then the floor and wall and Frauke herself, become a large screen onto which incredible motion graphics are projected. Imagery that invokes the Matrix in its futuristic tone (urged by the constantly beating soundscape) emanates from and toward the body of the performer. In her ghostly fashion she seems to vanish and resurface starkly as the image of multiple rows of stars both envelopes and foregrounds her body. Threads of white and shimmering gold material pour out of her head-dress (which covers her face) like the hair of Rapunzel flowing down to her ankles. Glints of the gold catch light and cast their own stars onto the projected ones. The sound and imagery, the costume and Frauke's own careful movements dance the ‘dance of darkness' together- another meaning of Ankoku Butoh- in an incredibly integrated manner. Each of the parts evolves to form some indefinable yet intricate relationship. Asymptote is a geometry (mathematical) term referring to lines that arbitrarily get closer and closer but never actually touch. Each time a synthesis of costume, sound, projection, and body seem to get closer and closer to that perfect meeting point, Frauke changes costume and the sound changes cueing the images to change. They constantly disrupt the flow which helps to create the uncomfortable edge-of -your -seat tension in the audience. Frauke transforms into a number of costumes with the help of a shifty character who quickly crawls in and out to collect clothes she has taken off and dress her anew. The first costume change is made when she throws off her head-dress and reveals a shiny silver dress in the shape of a triangle with its apex at her neckline. She resembles some of the alien-imagery seen in film with her bald head and wide open mouth trying to communicate what she is unearthing. The nature of Butoh as the ‘dance of darkness' is to go where other dance forms do not go, deep into the realms of the body that can be violent and frightening. So when Frauke, who seems to be searching for something that has been lost in the universe as she tries on different outfits, digs slowly into the base of the triangular garment, it looks as though she could be masturbating. With her legs spread wide in the air, she then lays on her back and pulls herself back to the spot where she had previously stood as a mannequin. The triangle shape is prominent throughout the incredible work and conjures various interpretations. It appears as a force that seems to give the performer some kind of power as a horizontal asymptote of two lines pulling closer together makes her hunch over toward the ground. But, as with asymptotes, the moment you feel as though you are closer and closer to the meaning of all the symbols and signs; you never actually touch the mark. Asymptote is not about finding the meaning behind the movement vocabulary. It is an experiential performance that you feel as your heart pounds with the pulsations of the soundscape, as your stomach clenches with the careful labour of the performer's actions, as your pupils dilate to the visual imagery and your mind is captivated by the marvel of the costumes. Then your skin tingles at the vision of how everything works together. And as you leave the theatre, the performers standing onstage, watching you, you cannot help but feel that they have alluded to some symptom of society that you had become asymptomatic of. FNB Dance Umbrella 2010 Nondumiso Msimanga Student journalist nondu87@gmail.com 082 762 8597 www.gmail.com/nondu87 Web site: http://www.artslink.co.za/arts
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