Kusje – 2020
“This is more about life than about the stage.”
kusje: (Dutch) noun; kiss lightly, peck. Intention, connection, communication; a kiss reveals and conceals all. In a time when such a greeting or shared moment must be limited for the good of all, what happens in the space between us?
In researching his work on the piano, Oliveira began inviting dancers one by one, and eventually together, to improvise in the Kerk once restrictions allowed. The evolving conversation between performers, piano and space started to develop artistic precedent and theme.
As a way of thinking poetically about this very complex moment, the present project provides a dialogue between ANT’s company members, all culturally experiencing a different reaction to the Corona crisis as their families and homes differ greatly. The space in the Kerk has become a dialogue, sharing poetic research into love, expectation, loneliness, fear, death and hope in relation to this precarious time.
The not-ideal nature of the Kerk as a performance space mirrors the frustrations and boundaries of this time period; out of investigating a space not suitable for performance, a shared experience is born from the artists utilizing dance, singing, music and acting within their improvisation. The occupation of space has become a language, references to other moments in art history providing reflection across periods of time.
Within the process, artists take turns in direction, script, photography, and production, in addition to the dance itself; they have full autonomy to give their own movements and instincts; this experience has become a living poetic document to our grief and hope during this period, a reflection on our distance from loved ones and the space-times lived within the various realities of Amsterdam itself. The conceptualization and working title Kusje arose as a simple symbol of this bittersweet experience. A simple, joyful action that now has become more serious, a greeting worldwide of love may now transmit pain and suffering to others. In a moment as brief as a kiss, so much can be communicated or made confusing. Intention, connection, communication; a kiss reveals and conceals all. In a time when such a greeting or shared moment must be limited for the good of all, what happens in the space left between us?
