A highlight of the Indonesian Dance Festival isn't entirely 'dance'
The curtains formed a semicircular stage at the just-ended Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta. There was a low platform to the right, two microphones and an electric guitar off to the left, upstage a riveting sepia photograph of twin flowers.
Meg Stuart and Philipp Gehmacher opened "Maybe Forever" with a slow duet amid flashing lights. The lights weren't supposed to be flashing - it was a technical miscue - but it certainly cued the excitement.
In the monologue that followed, Stuart explained why they were breaking up, with a sequence of sweet sentences that could all be abruptly changed by ending them with "I take that back".
What was most remarkable throughout the 80-minute performance was they way the pair shifted between acting and dance and from everyday to choreographed movements.
In one repeated gesture, what Stuart called "long arms", they extended their arms and hands to wave at each other, the sort of personal code that means so much to a couple when they're together and becomes a painful memory after they've split up.
The smooth mix of performing arts applied equally to Niko Hafkenscheid's guitar and singing, and Vincent Malstaf's music and sound design.
The music and lyrics were melancholic, matching what was happening elsewhere onstage. Hafkenscheid directly addressed the audience, but his words were meant for the performers too.
Jan Maertens' lighting, after seizing the audience's attention at the outset, became simple and subtle limelight for the performers, then ended with a masterful touch in the final moment, when the lights delicately changed the photograph's colour.
The 10th Indonesian Dance Festival featured some works by emerging choreographers who tended to present every single idea that came to mind, unfazed by the audience's inability to grasp it all.
That made it so much more refreshing to watch a piece by veteran artists who did the opposite and left enough space for viewers to be fully immersed and add their own interpretation. Most people have experienced failed romances, but their memories will vary.
Sometimes less is not simply more - it's much more. Monotony can actually be engaging, mourning can invigorate, and the mundane can become extraordinary. Such is life and love.
Some believe the theatre is just an escape from real life and dance is only about exceptional movements. Too often we let real life pass us by without thinking about it.
Reaffirming that art is rooted in life, "Maybe Forever" allowed us to do just that, so that then, hopefully, we won't repeat the mistake.
Bangkok never
"Maybe Forever" is touring Southeast Asia and Australia under the auspices of the Goethe Institut's Tanzconnexions project (though none of the artists is German). It's not booked for Thailand.
Tanzconnexions also supported the writer's trip to Jakarta.
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