Report by Prof. Erben about his research trip to Taiwan
CELLO AND DANCE
Report about my collaboration
with the chinese dancer Fang-yi SHEU
and her choreographer Bulareyaung
Initial considerations
What motivated me, a cellist, to seek contact with the visual world of expressive dance? The simple answer, to transform music into movement, to project it to another, perhaps higher level through movement, is not enough and was not my sole motivation. What was it?
Art has to do with skill and artistry. At the same time, however, it also contains the element of the intangible, the visionary, the ingenious, which every human being carries within him or her. The creative artist experiences this aspect consciously, gives it form through his artistry: be it as a painter, sculptor, architect, writer or composer. But how does the creative artist succeed in abducting his audience into the realm of the imaginary, of the subconscious, in touching them where slumbering sensibilities await discovery?
"The Little Prince" by Antoine de St. Exupéry is a good example of this. Superficially a simple tale. However, the little title character, who comes "from another planet," manages to bring us so close to the dimensions of life, love and death, far beyond what can be described in words.
The punch line of a good joke can also be drawn upon. It lies in the unspoken. We are surprised and defenselessly exposed to the ridiculous side of life and the abysses of human existence. An art like that of the fairy tale. Here, everywhere, an immediacy of experience is achieved that would not be possible with direct "descriptions".
The magic in music
Since my childhood the fascination of the almost infinite possibilities of the puppet, and here in particular the marionette puppet, has not let me go. It has the gift of rising above the limitations of matter and transporting us into a world of creative imagination.
From here, the arc to pure expressive dance is quickly drawn. It arises quite obviously from the need of man to break the bonds of matter, of physical heaviness and gravity, and to represent the imaginary. The dancer works with the highest energy on the mobility of his body in order to awaken associations in the viewer that lift him far beyond his material world of everyday life.
What about the music? Our occidental classical music carries a lot of intellectual, spiritual elements. And that is why for me - especially on the podium - it is the inherent fairy-tale quality of this music, the magical quality, which stimulates me to take the listener into my world of creative imagination. His consciousness should be opened to receive the composer's message directly.
Experience Taiwan
So it is perhaps no coincidence that during my concert tours in the Far East I met people in Taiwan who brought me closer to this world of expressive dance.
Through my former student, Chang Chen-Chiéh, who now plays an important role in Taiwan's musical life, I met an art-loving architect who opened her family home to me in generous hospitality. She offered me the opportunity to gain insight into the Chinese family tradition, into the Chinese way of life. Even though this family, like some other Taiwanese families, had enjoyed part of their upbringing in America, they are still deeply rooted in the patriarchal tradition of their country. One gets the impression that the great ancient culture of China lives on unbroken here in Taiwan.
My visit to the Taipei Art Museum alone, under the expert guidance of my hostess Sasa Ho, was an impressive example of this. I was also able to get to know traditional Chinese medicine and got a feeling for the thousands of years of experience on which it is based. So I was well prepared for a contact with the Taiwanese prima ballerina Fang-yi Sheu and her choreographer Bulareyaung .
Dance in Taiwan
Fang-yi enjoyed most of her training in New York at Martha Graham's famous dance company. Today, she still tours with this company as a soloist. She is considered one of the few to realize Martha Graham's vision.
In the meantime she has founded her own company "LaFa" in Taipei. (www.lafa.com.tw)
Taiwan is a stronghold of expressive dance. It seems to me that Chinese people have a special talent for mastering their bodies. Two abilities seem to meet creatively: the willingness to be extremely disciplined and the ability to train one's body hard. Something else and crucial, however, adds to this, according to my findings. Chinese dancers have great intuition and live very distinctly in a world of sensory perception that is strongly visual, with a sensitive sense of the space in which they move and which they are asked to fill.
Cello and dance
All these elements appeal to me very strongly, and so in the course of my conversations with Fang-Yi, the idea of a collaboration emerged - a collaboration that could expand my musical perceptual range and give the dancer a new dimension to her art. A juxtaposition and overlapping of music and dance, as it were.
It was clear from the outset that the dance was not to be a mere illustration of the music. Music and dance should each follow their own criteria, tell their story in their own language, so that they can inspire each other. Only in this way will the spectrum of associations in the listener and viewer be enriched. Because, of course, such a dialogue needs the audience. Only then does it really come alive.
In our particular case, there is an additional appealing component: the music that is supposed to be the subject comes from Central Europe. Fang-yi and her choreographer Bulareyaung come from a completely different cultural background, and music is not their primary language of expression. They receive music intuitively rather than intellectually, which in turn was a source of inspiration for me.
From the first moment of our work together, I was fascinated to feel how the music I make becomes movement in my partner. Music in itself has a strong physical aspect. More and more I am convinced that music in its primal beginnings comes from man's need to express himself physically.
With the singer it is obvious, his instrument is the body. With the drummer it is the physical need for rhythm. The stringed instrument is ultimately an extension of the body: With the left hand, which grasps the notes, the way I touch the string has a decisive influence on the timbre and thereby the expression I want to achieve. With the bowing, it is easier to see: the movement of the right arm, which is itself physical expression, translates directly into the bow, which gives breath and shape to the sound.
"Approaches"
During my second stay in Taipei, made possible by the research grant from the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture, we worked concretely on a program that will become part of a production of LaFa next year.
It was a difficult process, as the two cultures seemed too distant from each other at first. A way had to be found to communicate that was not primarily verbal and about the mind. It must be said that the communication was, of course, in English, not both of our native languages. This means that the same sentence can have very different meanings in the two cultures. The Chinese language is a language of pictorial imagination, our language is a logically constructed one. So our verbal communication could only help us to a very limited extent. This was perhaps our good fortune!
So I suggested that at the beginning of the next session, without talking much, we do our "warm up" together. I played my daily scale exercises and Fang-yi meanwhile completed her preliminary exercises. An intuitive contact was already established. Both of us were busy with the same thing at that moment: To deal with the handicraft matter out of the momentary state of mind and to increase the sensitivity for it. At the same time, we grasped each other through observation and learned the process of how he or she goes about refining and perfecting their own "instruments" - cello here, body there.
Next, we decided to forget everything "learned" and improvise. I played music as it came to me spontaneously, and Fang-yi abandoned herself to her body.
For me, a completely unexpected aspect emerged: I suddenly realized that the sound of the cello alone - detached from any organized music - could be a medium to communicate with the dancer. During the following conversation it turned out that this was much more self-evident for my partners than for me, who - influenced by our western civilization - always immediately looks for an intellectual "meaning" behind everything.
Work process
Gradually a sequence of relatively short sequences crystallized, each about 2 minutes long, which will then make up a program point. We will indeed start with a "warm-up piece" - this time admittedly organized. This will be followed by a very virtuosic caprice for solo cello. Bulareyaung is fascinated by the playing of my fingers and encourages Fang-yi to try something similar. So I witness a pantomime performance of her hands that reminds me of Marcel Marceau. This is followed by an improvisation in which I start out with just "sounds", but then gradually move into my music - echoes of Gustav Mahler and Franz Schubert may come, but only as passing visions, as it were, which then end again in a sound, detached from any mental association.
What is interesting here is the process of how a choreography can emerge. Bulareyaung listens to my music several times. Images arise in him. He is also inspired by my body movements. He integrates the movements of my body, especially my hands, into his images. If these now seem tangible enough to him, he communicates them to the dancer. She tries to translate these images into movement. Now I also understand why, before my arrival in Taiwan, a CD was not enough for him and he insisted on an audiovisual document.
He is always with the camera, modifying his ideas, criticizing Fang-yi.
In this, I admire her patience in allowing herself to be treated like a student as an adult. Obviously, however, she respects him and trusts him. In the subsequent new attempt, one notices how she is able to immediately adopt the choreographer's suggestions and express her own personality.
Always I was and am fascinated by Fang-yi's professionalism in her art. Without any exteriority, she is always highly focused on finding her inner truth. I experienced an artistic process at the highest level, with the greatest intensity.
When the choreographic concept finally convinces and withstands all doubts, it is captured on camera, complemented by written notes. Fang-yi will memorize it several times.
Can dance "replace" a musical instrument?
A concrete goal of our work phase this time was a video recording of Messiaen's "Louange à l'éternitè de Jesu" from the "Quatuor pour la fin du temps". This piece is written for cello and piano, with the piano having to play a very slow but steady succession of chords from beginning to end (the prescribed metronome marking is 40 beats per minute!). On the one hand, it symbolizes the unalterable passage of time, and at the same time, through its harmonies, it puts the listener in a mystical state. The cello contributes to this by drawing an infinitely slow melodic arc, from the expression of human suffering to the transfiguration of all that is human in union with God. The dynamic range moves between ppp and the greatest possible fff. A truly visionary music.
We now made the experiment of replacing the role of the piano with dance in this piece. Perhaps this attempt is unlawful, for copyright and artistic reasons. I am very sorry not to be able to discuss this with Olivier Messiaen!
As I said before, the composer assigned two important components to the piano:
1. the rhythm, as division and making audible of time.
The dance makes the organization of time visible by dividing the space.
The dancer dances on a higher plateau, which, in its spatial
represents the limitedness of earthly time. The symbol of time can be experienced here as well as there. 2.
2. the harmonies, as alternation of tension and relaxation, the dramaturgy of emotions is "created
Emotions are created by scenic lighting design. Also here it is
one and the same symbol, only the symbol carrier is exchanged. Those who immerse themselves in the world of scenic dance very quickly realize the overwhelming dimension that this visual - not to say visionary - art genre of "light" opens up to us.
At the end of the piece, the dancer will descend from the plateau and enter the infinity of light.
Fusion of two art genres
This experiment is representative for the basic idea of our collaboration. Starting from an expansion of the respective own field of imagination, it shall show that one and the same symbolic content can be made equally recognizable on different levels. The confrontation of the respective levels with each other forces the performers to clearly define the criteria at stake. That is, to make clear the dramaturgical structure of the music on the one hand and the dance on the other. The fusion of both media - without either of them giving up the identity of their own medium - takes energy and concentration and stimulates the viewer and listener to concentrate on his part - ultimately to listen to himself and within himself.
In this way, if successful, it is made tangible that all genres of art ultimately represent a great whole in which every person - whether practicing or receiving art - can find his or her place.
Thanks to
I would like to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to the Ministry of Education of Republic of China on Taiwan for generously sponsoring my last working stay in Taiwan.
Vienna, October 2009
Valentin Heirs