I have been wondering about interactive performances since I was a grad student at CalArts. This is something that I am fascinated with because of different reasons. I think theatre needs to be more open to the audience. More open doesn’t necessarily mean mainstream. It also doesn’t necessarily mean selling out. I haven’t figured out what that means but I am interested in the output of the Liz Lerman project called Funny Uncles performance blog. Doug Fox summarize the project as follows, “The Funny Uncles blog is an experimental initiative to explore new and different ways to share, communicate and collaborate with audiences prior to, during and after performances of the dance work of the same name.”
I am interested in their attempt to bridge the gap between audiences, communities and artist. I feel like the gap can be minimal but in order to do that, first and foremost, we need a community. It might be easier when you are an already established and an international dance company. As you might know, I’m working on the expansion of inFluxdance company in various ways and this is one which I think we, the artistic team, are all interested in. We are a fairly young dance company that seeks to create new dance pieces. Going back to my point, we are starting to build a community which is mainly people who like dance and are in the family circle of dancers, choreographers and friends. To have interaction when we are starting isn’t as easy as creating a show. Interaction is mostly achievable when the community is already established. How can we reach out to the dance enthusiast? How do you have an interaction when you are just starting out?