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00:00:50 00:00:57

Good evening. I will do a walk+talk, based on the invitation by Philipp Gehmacher.

00:00:57 00:01:05

First I will take the task by the letter and propose this.

00:04:39 00:05:11

I…

00:05:14 00:05:42

I walk…

00:05:44 00:06:08

I walk and…

00:06:08 00:06:53

I walk and talk

00:06:53 00:07:15

And now I am talking at full speed, while trying to keep the beat with my feet, but actually, I already quit doing this, I already lost the beat. It is amazing how simple this task should be, but how many difficulties I have to do it.

00:07:22 00:07:32

This is a variation upon a score by Henry Wilt written for Antonia Baehr. It is the beginning of it.

00:07:40 00:07:44

In this phrase I’m replacing silences by beats.

00:07:52 00:08:24

Later on, the interpreter is supposed to integrate the irregularities he or she is doing in the last copy. So from copy to copy, there is more and more dirt building up.

00:08:36 00:09:00

This gap between copy and copy, this in-between space, where misunderstandings and misinterpretations and failures happen, this in-between space is where everything happens.

00:09:21 00:09:27

The continuation is inspired by Litó Walkey and it looks like this.

00:09:27 00:10:32

I walk and talk (…)

00:11:00 00:11:05

Another variation on walking and talking.

00:11:14 00:11:23

This space is very scary to us, because we’ve never performed in such a big space.

00:11:26 00:11:48

All the pieces we do, we premiere them in Ausland, Berlin,and the stage is 1,2 1,2 1,2,3,4 1,2 metres big.

00:11:51 00:11:56

On this stage, we have been doing things like this.

00:12:50 00:12:52

Et cetera.

00:12:57 00:13:00

Or like this.

00:13:09 00:13:30

Then we were very old. This was Jakob and he was very old too. And we were dancing.

00:13:30 00:14:09

Heaven. I’m in heaven. When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek.

00:14:09 00:14:34

When you’re old, your hip is very low. And the spine is a little bit attached to the hips. And the belly is tucked in.

00:14:34 00:14:39

Everything goes a bit slow.

00:14:40 00:15:02

Then we quoted that piece by Antonia Baehr and William Wheeler. So we held each other by the hand.

00:15:05 00:15:08

Eyes centre.

00:15:08 00:15:11

Eye left. It’s more low, I think.

00:15:12 00:15:16

Eyes down left.
Eyes down right.

00:15:18 00:15:26

Eyes right centre. Eyes centre.
Eyes up. Eyes down.

00:15:26 00:15:39

Drop smile. Frown. And eyes slowly to the left floor.

00:15:44 00:15:48

Head and eyes slowly to centre floor.

00:15:52 00:15:59

Head and eyes slowly to right down floor.

00:16:00 00:16:08

And then eyes centre.
Drop down. Et cetera.

00:16:11 00:16:24

And then, we had the opportunity to do a premiere in a bigger space, which was in Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers.

00:16:24 00:16:48

So we were very scared because the space was so big. So we made a pedestal.
1m high, 80cm, 1,60m, 80cm.

00:17:58 00:18:04

This was the opening of that piece. It was called Merci.

00:18:09 00:18:15

Un, deux, trois, soleil.
Reviens en case trois.

00:18:15 00:18:21

Un, deux, trois, soleil.
Reviens en case trois.

00:18:22 00:18:30

Un, deux, trois, soleil.
Reviens en case trois.

00:18:31 00:18:44

Et maintenant, on fait ‘Le sculpteur’.
Tu tournes, tu tournes, tu tournes et statue!

00:19:01 00:19:12

This part we called ‘Le Bellmer’ because it was taken from Hans Bellmer’s drawings.

00:19:14 00:19:27

He had imagined that… you can… the sexual parts that you can…

00:19:40 00:19:44

I had an eye in my hand.

00:20:32 00:20:36

We did a lot of scores on paper.

00:20:40 00:20:45

For example the one by Susanne Berggren.

00:20:56 00:21:00

Or this one.

00:21:10 00:21:13

It wasn’t this one, but I will read it to you anyway.

00:21:13 00:21:30

Micro
Horse-shoe
Bas (…)
6H45
Fotocop.
Crême
Tel. bezahlen
Aspirine
Partition Andrea
SACD (…)
Mitte Februar 2008 Apple Care

00:21:30 00:21:35

I think I will do this score later.

00:21:52 00:21:56

There was a metronome you could hear in the space.

00:22:26 00:23:30

This is all meant to be done at the same time. Make up a sentence for yourself. Say it to yourself in your head but without sound. With mouth movements. Degree 8 to 10. Let all A’s out on the side of you. Every wide vowel is an instruction of circular movement of head to your right. Every consonant is an instruction of straight movement to your left. The head never stops moving. Eyes move in opposite direction of head.

00:22:57 00:23:02

I never succeeded to do this score.

00:23:35 00:23:43

Who tells him to do what he does? Is it himself? Or is it somebody else?

00:23:44 00:23:49

Does he sometimes tell other people to do things?

00:23:55 00:23:59

Who tells him to get out of bed in the morning?

00:24:01 00:24:03

Who tells him to walk?

00:24:13 00:24:21

He’s walking now, looking at the ghettoblaster. He’s pointing at it.

00:24:21 00:24:25

He stopped pointing at it but he’s still looking at it.

00:24:25 00:24:32

He’s bending his head to get to the ghettoblaster.

00:24:32 00:24:35

He’s approaching the ghettoblaster.

00:24:35 00:24:38

He’s leaving the 8.

00:24:38 00:24:42

He’s doing a little check-up.

00:24:44 00:24:48

He stops walking. He’s standing besides the ghettoblaster.

00:24:49 00:24:55

He is taking his trousers into his hands, lifting them 5%.

00:24:55 00:25:03

He’s bending down 100%, without his knees touching the ground.

00:25:05 00:25:10

He’s pressing play. And then walking.

00:25:17 00:25:33

Could you please laugh for 7 minutes?
OK. Start. Please start.

00:26:28 00:26:30

Stop. Please stop.

00:26:34 00:26:42

It wasn’t very convincing. You had…

00:26:43 00:26:48

Well, just start again. Start.

00:27:18 00:27:34

No. No. Stop. Please stop. Stop. Stop. I mean, don’t just stop laughing. Stop walking too. But keep breathing, yes?

00:27:34 00:27:45

OK. Now show us that your laughter is choreography. OK. Start.

00:30:42 00:30:47

Continue and show us now that your laughter is music.

00:31:34 00:31:36

Open your mouth wider.

00:31:39 00:31:41

Wider please.

00:31:43 00:31:45

Even wider please.

00:31:52 00:31:55

You’re laughing like a woman.

00:32:33 00:32:40

Thank you. Thank you.
You can walk again.

00:32:51 00:33:20

Step. Step. Step. Step.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
Eyes. Eyes.
Shirt. Shirt.
Eyes. Eyes.
Eyes. Hands.
Eyes. Eyes. Eyes. Eyes.
Eyes. Eyes. Eyes.

00:33:20 00:34:04

Hi ha ha ha, Hi ha ha ha…
He he he he…

00:34:22 00:34:31

She will study laughter some more. She will record many people’s laughters. And she will notate them.

00:34:31 00:34:50

She will notate how her father laughs, how she laughs in Chicago. And she will be interested in the daily dances, like smoking a pipe, laughing.

00:34:50 00:35:03

She will believe that the separation between what she can do on stage and what she does in life, can be made smaller.

00:35:03 00:35:15

She will think that then she will learn more about all this.

00:35:20 00:35:32

She will believe that gestures wander and occupy bodies and that they don’t belong to people. That they transgress people and wander through cultures.

00:35:34 00:35:38

She will lose the thread at some point.

00:35:45 00:35:58

She will become a choreographer, because when she will be a little girl, she will go to the theatre a lot. And she will like it very much.

00:35:59 00:36:12

But she will think that as soon as those actors open those mouths and speech is coming out of their mouths, she will be totally surprised.

00:36:13 00:36:22

So later on when she will start to make theatre, she will forbid any language coming out of mouths.

00:36:22 00:36:28

So people will come and see what she’s doing and will say: You are a choreographer.

00:36:30 00:36:45

And she will do some premieres in that Ausland Berlin, that small space and in that bigger space in the Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers.

00:36:45 00:36:58

And she will soon then decide that she will never do a premiere again, that she will never finish a piece again, except for her 80th birthday, where she will premiere her Laugh piece.

00:36:59 00:37:08

And through all this, she will use language in all of her work.

00:37:13 00:37:17

She will walk in an 8, in the form of an 8.

00:37:20 00:37:29

And she will look at the CD-player, very close. And make more noise with her shoes.

00:37:29 00:37:33

She will approach it, shortening a little bit the 8.

00:37:36 00:37:39

She will approach it very purposefully.

00:37:42 00:37:57

She will swing her left arm. She will stand behind it. She will stop walking. She will bend down. And press play.

00:38:02 00:38:10

She will stand up. She will excuse herself because she went to the wrong CD-player.

00:38:10 00:38:25

So she will turn a quarter movement to the… And she will look at the other CD-player and she will walk towards it in a very decisive manner.

00:38:28 00:38:34

Her feet will leave the ground, 10cm above the ground. The heels will leave the ground first.

00:38:34 00:38:46

She will bend her head more towards the CD-player. She will stand beside it. She will grab her trousers, pull them up 5%.

00:38:46 00:38:51

She will bend down 75% without putting her knees onto the floor.

00:38:51 00:38:55

She will press play.

00:38:57 00:39:08

Soon I’m going to give you instructions for a pose to hold, a way to breath, your muscular tonus and your facial muscles.

00:39:08 00:39:16

Keep your main focus always on the breathing pattern. It should be precise and very small and super-unhearable.

00:39:16 00:39:22

The instructions for the face are also meant to be often almost invisible.

00:39:22 00:39:32

I will use the green numbers to tell you how big you should be. So degree 10 would be the absolute maximum. And 0 is nothing.

00:39:32 00:39:41

But remember that overall, face and breathing should most of the time remain at the border of visibility. Never get big.

00:39:41 00:39:46

Are you ready? We’re going to start now.

00:39:47 00:39:53

Your body is facing 30% to your partner and the rest to the audience.

00:39:53 00:40:03

Your left finger is pointing to a point between your partner and the audience. And your left elbow is bent 50%.

00:40:03 00:40:20

Your weight is on your right foot, which is behind your left foot. And your left shoulder is higher than your right shoulder. And your left hip is higher than your right hip, 20%, 10%.

00:40:20 00:40:38

Your head is bent forward 5% and tilted to the side 5%. And you’re looking to the floor in utter point between your partner and the audience. And your ribcage is sinking in.

00:40:38 00:40:54

Your breathing is characterised by high frequency and high amplitudes so you breath very, very fast and smell breaths into your ribcage, absolutely unhearable. This is the rhythm: in, out, in, out, in, out, in, out, in, out. Intensity: degree 1,5.

00:40:54 00:41:04

Your muscular tonus is increasing in all the antigravitational extensor muscles of your body, in particular in those related to a posture of attack. Degree: 1,5. Don’t change your pose.

00:41:04 00:41:13

Your ribcage gets bigger. Tuck in your belly. Tuck in your pelvis and your genitals. Degree: 1,5. Tense your shoulders.

00:41:13 00:41:26

Now start giving phasic discharges in your chin muscle and your back-thigh muscle. And continue doing that. Your muscular tonus increases. But don’t change your pose.

00:41:26 00:41:35

Your ribcage gets bigger. The muscles in your face are tense. Degree: 1,5. Your jaw is tense. Your mouth is frowning. Degree: 1,5.

00:41:35 00:41:52

Contract the superior eyelid muscles. Degree: 1,5. But remember that it’s not so big because 10 is the maximum. Continue this pattern, concentrating mainly on keeping your breathing super fast and unhearable. And keeping the muscular tonus in your body.

00:41:52 00:42:01

And you tuck in your pelvis even more, and your genitals even more, and you tense your jaw a little bit more.

00:42:01 00:42:12

And you keep breathing very, very fast but unhearably. Concentrate on your breathing. And continue doing that.

00:42:27 00:42:36

This is the end. So now relax. Don’t look at the audience. And relax. And make yourself comfortable.

00:42:36 00:42:44

And thank you very much. You did it very well. I didn’t see you, but I know you did very well.

00:42:44 00:42:48

And leave the stage.

00:42:51 00:42:53

Thank you.