In Which Our Heroine Attended an Evening of Theatre/Dance...
As the title said, I went to theatre/dance productions this evening.
First was a performance of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. It was fabulous.
But it was the dance production that made me think. Now, I'm fully aware of contact improv, etc. I'm aware that it's normal for dancers to move their bodies in strange ways or to contact others in ways that they wouldn't do in the normal world.
However, it became increasingly odd to me to think about the way that those of us crammed into folding chairs in the audience were huddled as small as we could, not touching, when the dancers were pushing each other around, body to body, dragging each other, laying on top of each other.
We.
Don't.
Touch.
Each.
Other.
We don't. It's the strangest thing, when you think about it. I mean, hands bumping on an elevator or knees bumping beneath a crowded table is incredibly awkward for most people. We are fine with touching our food, touching rather a lot of disgusting things (Um, can you say "public bathrooms?") and yet we can't touch another human being without wigging out about it. Seriously, it's bizarre.
Maybe it's just that I'm a hugs person with little-to-no personal space. Maybe it's just that I haven't been getting my requisite three hugs a day. I don't know.
But I feel that it's stupid that we can't touch each other. I feel that it is ridiculous.
First was a performance of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. It was fabulous.
But it was the dance production that made me think. Now, I'm fully aware of contact improv, etc. I'm aware that it's normal for dancers to move their bodies in strange ways or to contact others in ways that they wouldn't do in the normal world.
However, it became increasingly odd to me to think about the way that those of us crammed into folding chairs in the audience were huddled as small as we could, not touching, when the dancers were pushing each other around, body to body, dragging each other, laying on top of each other.
We.
Don't.
Touch.
Each.
Other.
We don't. It's the strangest thing, when you think about it. I mean, hands bumping on an elevator or knees bumping beneath a crowded table is incredibly awkward for most people. We are fine with touching our food, touching rather a lot of disgusting things (Um, can you say "public bathrooms?") and yet we can't touch another human being without wigging out about it. Seriously, it's bizarre.
Maybe it's just that I'm a hugs person with little-to-no personal space. Maybe it's just that I haven't been getting my requisite three hugs a day. I don't know.
But I feel that it's stupid that we can't touch each other. I feel that it is ridiculous.