A Cock And Ball Story

David St. Pierre’s new show, ‘Un Peu de Tendresse’, has been rather sensationalised in the national press, as ‘lazy, derivative and very, very provincial’ to quote one incensed Guardian reviewer. The list goes on and on: reviewers calling the show poorly constructed and poorly performed, and not at the least surprised by the sight of nudity in dance. It is a usual fixture, they decry, something we have already seen, not surprising. It is no surprise then that, to get a reaction from the cynical theatre critic with a penchant for a bit of fleshy choreography, David St. Pierre sometimes stoops a bit low for his audience reactions. Men in straggly blonde wigs leap through the audience, waggling their penises and showing their backsides with almost incandescent pride and freedom. Women have sex with a cake (and yes, its about as pleasant as this sounds.) A group of people speaking gibberish perform rude hand gestures that make one’s own bodies writhe with disgust at the idea happening to themselves. At none of these points in the show is it beautiful or stunning, I agree. But more importantly, this is not the aim. Instead, with grotesque and childish behaviour we are utterly desensitized to nudity, and instead of it being the main talking point about some beautiful moments of sensitive choreography, it is shunted into the back of the mind to let the dancing do the work, only aided by the garnish of some meat and more than two veg.

‘Un Peu de Tendresse’ explores themes of tenderness, intimacy and gender through a series of somewhat disconnected (often to the point of feeling a bit thrown together) sections of movement. Never once does the movement feel jerky or slow, but there is a lack of any real structure, but this does not remove the joy of what one sees. Between the sensationalist moments journalists have gluttonously picked on like carrion come moments of breathtaking beauty; the infantile men in blonde wigs redress and punish themselves, the anger and frustration of female dancers is equally demonstrated by the men placed in the same situation with the same lover. Our sardonic narrator breaks down at the sight of the last dressed dancer being handled by the rest of the ensemble, before beginning a beautiful piece of watery dance. To say these vignettes spoils nothing of the production, because one simply has to see how they achieve the movements they perform to believe them. The choreography when it is in full swing is utterly sensational and an incredible testament to the control and power of this company’s dancers.

There are of course issues with the production. There are moments in the show where one feels like Pina Bausch may be spinning in her grave, as the punishing and repetitive movement cycles of ‘Cafe Muller’, the water themes of ‘Vollmond’ and the staging of ‘Kontakthof’ all loom heavily over like spectres of great dance that are reached towards but not necessarily equalled or surpassed. There are moments of the show that have clearly been thought of with interesting symbolism, but this is not entirely explored. At times, the undercurrent of breaking down the fourth wall begins to erode the crucial themes of the piece by causing jerky interludes in the smooth trajectory of the performance. At the same time however, the company tear down the fourth wall in a more powerful way than many other companies nowadays, even the utterly sensational Ontroerend Goed, who’s recent production ‘Audience’ could take a few lessons from the vulgarity of David St Pierre, who breaks down the fourth wall with a sledgehammer.

The show at times is cheap or disgusting, but this is as powerful as the most beautiful choreography. Whilst not pleasant to watch, what it does is remove the romance, the myth and the reverence we hold with the naked body and the sexual union. By showing us what we hold taboo we are left to feel more comfortable with their performances in the nude, and ultimately feel moved by the moments of beauty sometimes found in human tenderness. Like life, the performance is not a smooth journey, but a difficult odyssey towards a sensational conclusion. Maybe a few art critics should have been there when we gave the company a standing ovation to see that sometimes difficult does not have to be horrible.

Comments (14)

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