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What is the difference between the moment before and during performance?
The Warm Up Project reveals that ultimately, there isn’t one; the intensity of pre-performance proves itself to be as much of a spectacle as the show itself. In her initial project HATCH, choreographer Lucia Kickham explores with a team of contemporary dancers the unique space of stage preparation, the excitement and readiness buzzing through a performer’s veins. From this research, Kickham has created the 2019 Dublin Fringe Festival show INIT: The Warm Up Project to prolong the adrenaline-shot alertness and heightened concentration of the artists’ warm up to the stage, using simply three dancers (Ailish Maher, Nerea Gurrutxaga Arruti and Alessandra Ruggeri) and a DJ (Robbie Kitt).
Through a kaleidoscopic collage of sounds and rhythms, Kitt takes us on a synesthetic voyage swiftly changing landscapes from an exotic tropical jungle, a chaotic urban scene, a sweaty nightclub, a peaceful lake. Just as a puppet master, he controls the dancers in their abandoned state of full embodied movement inspired by the original pre-performance warm up, channelling the music through twitching mechanical motions, then impulsive graceful ones, or supple light ones.
In their meditative trance, the dancers each take the stage in solo pieces transparently expressing their inner introspection, and they gradually share the space into duos and trios. The collective pieces portrayed the stressful conflict and the intrusion of this personal space, as well as the essential trust between performers before a show. The fragility, yet empowerment, of the solo performances was fascinating to watch, just as the strength and support of the ensemble were relatable and touching.
The performers’ deep attentiveness and connection to the present moment was contagious: the audience is drawn into this hypnotic spectacle, the tension and adrenaline emanating from their bodies was tangible in the entire room. This portrayal of a traditionally hidden aspect of performance gives the audience a rare insight on the artist’s life outside the stage. It also gives the audience a chance to sensually experience the paradoxical extreme adrenaline-induced excitement and alert calmness the performer handles before a show. The all-consuming connection between the dancers and the DJ was indeed propagated to the audience as they themselves entered this profoundly concentrated meditation. A feeling of awareness and rejuvenated excitement was felt as the show ended.
The show unfortunately ended on the 15th of September, but I would recommend keeping an eye out for Kickham’s next work.
