SPELL by Igor Shyshko had its world premiere on 16 and 17 November 2024 at Radialsystem, as part of the VOICES Performing Arts Festival.
Rocks
I have always considered rocks to be wise and dignified beings. When I enter the theatre, I see a rock occupying a chair and sit next to it. Then, my eyes wander to locate other rocks in the space. Two dancers, Albina Vakhitova and Igor Shyshko, are tying rocks to their feet and ankles with ropes so that the rocks function like shoes. On one edge of the stage, rocks are stacked to form a pedestal, upon which a bowl rests.
Sound
Behind this pedestal, Elke Van Campenhout sits. She carries out a series of actions—such as rubbing her hands, pouring water into the bowl, lighting a match—right by the hovering microphone above the bowl so that every sound is starkly amplified. This creates an eerie atmosphere that awakens my senses. Soon, when loud droning music mutes these delicate sounds, I experience a feeling of loss. From this moment on, different types of music fill the space, accompanied by Campenhout’s voice at times, which speaks in German, English, and French. From the two languages I understand, I gather that she talks about a caviar factory, “embodied fiction”, gravity, and ageing. The lyrics of her prolonged singing towards the end are buried under the loud music.
Another prominent sound in the room is produced by the rocks attached to the dancers’ feet as they strike and scrape the floor.
Movement
Vakhitova and Shyshko move slowly as if across a rocky landscape. Their muscles visibly tremble, revealing the challenge of balancing on the rocks. Their squirming movements evolve into deliberate poses where they intentionally position their bodies off balance. Their eventual fall, however, looks choreographed and rehearsed. Soon, they struggle through a balletic duet, while they wear rocks instead of pointe shoes. After this scene, they remove the rocks from their feet and begin a hypersexual dance with lots of pelvic thrusts in solo and duet, displaying unmistakable scenes of intercourse, while a fake smile is pinned on their faces. As Shyshko passes close by me, I smell the thick sweat dripping from his body. When the music stops for a short moment, their crazed dance comes to an end. The next section begins with a loose unison that gradually breaks down into what appears to be improvisation. The movement style is characteristic of a contemporary dance class.
Questions
Watching the piece, I ask myself about ritual and repetition. The program notes that “SPELL is a ritual choreography concerning exhaustion and the ambiguity of repetition” and that “[r]epetition contains an almost magical power” which transforms it “into a form of political resistance.” Are the recurring movements I notice in the last section pointing to this repetition? The movements are too generic and unstructured for me to register it as “a magical gesture” that contains meaning. What makes this work political? Does being dragged down by the heaviness of the rocks signify societal pressure? If so, what is the ritual in SPELL that “defies the powerlessness of our daily resistance”? These questions linger like loose strings that never quite drew together.
SPELL by Igor Shyshko premiered on 16 and 17 November 2024 at Radialsystem, as part of the VOICES Performing Arts Festival.
