Betroffenheit, our best dance show of the 21st century, takes the breath away - and reveals the Canadian trailblazer´s superb craftBest dance shows of the 21st centuryCrystal Pite and Jonathon Young´s Betroffenheit is the kind of work where by the time the interval comes, you´re still not exactly sure what you´re watching, and by the time it finishes, you´re speechless. The sense of the performance doesn´t so much unfold as slowly seep into the audience´s consciousness with growing horror - it´s a study of grief, trauma and addiction based on a tragic event in Young´s own life. The subject matter in itself carries enormous emotional clout, but it´s the craft that elevates this piece to genius levels.Betroffenheit is not entirely typical of Canadian choreographer Pite´s work, being a co-creation with writer and actor Young, a genuine integration of dance and theatre (a partnership they have continued in a new work, Revisor). But it makes sense that Pite would seek to synthesise with another artist, because when she creates she is always in conversation with something or someone. Whether that is mirroring the structure of Gorecki´s music in Flight Pattern (2017), getting behind Shakespeare´s text in The Tempest Replica (2011), responding to an article she has read or a conversation she´s had, or collaborating with dancers on the creation of material. The ultimate conversation is with the audience. Pite wants to connect with the viewer. `It´s the most important thing for me,` she told me a few years ago. `I really care about it so much. I don´t know how to think about it any other way.` Continue reading...
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