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In a derelict factory space, bodies imperceptibly move to impulses, memory loops, fragments of feeling. Isolated in their own stagnant and dense realities, they communicate through anticipation and release in a pattern of reversible reactions. The bodies are bound by the laws of the dynamic equilibrium of the steady state – the laws of Fliessgleichgewicht.
Fliessgleichgewicht transposes Urbe’s choreography to an empty, abandoned factory. Stripped of socio-political and sensorial context, the performers interact in polarities of space and time: bodies in suspension without anchor.
Impulses surge through their limbs, building to a crescendo; as the movements subside, the energy returns to the level void, that of Fliessgleichgewicht.
“Andre Semenza and Fernanda Lippi’s Fliessgleichgewicht (2002) is radical for a dance film because it is about the space between. That which is normally a part of the rhythm of movement becomes dominant for long stretches of time almost as if the background and foreground had changed places. This is emphasized by the framing of each shot to include large chunks of empty space around the two dancers and is emphasized again by their isolation…”
“They are in the same room but never communicate in any way with each other. In many shots a vertical pillar divides them. The cold monochromatic color adds to their isolation. Their movement when it occurs, appears to come from an inner pressure which, when acted upon, subsides back into stillness.”
“Fleissgleichgewicht is a scientific term from physics, which is translated, as ‘steady state’–a state that is in constant flux, but remains the same. It is like a lake, which constantly evaporates but has a constant influx of water from rivers, or like a flame, continually burning, which with an uninterrupted supply of gas remains the same.”
“Cutting on stillness rather than on action reiterates the dominance of this steady state as does the frequent stopping of movement, sometimes leaving the dancer in what appears to be a very unlikely position. The frequent short breaks in the sound add to the tension of this shift in perception and emphasizes the solidity of the sound which, in its uniformity, relates back to the tangible emptiness that dominates this dance.”
© Charlotte Shoemaker
Dance Films as Related to Avant-Garde Films
Dance/Screen at San Francisco Performances
Choreography: Fernanda Lippi
Dancers: Tuca Pinheiro, Consuelo Rosa
Production Manager: Ed Andrade
Production Supervisor: Ligia Lippi
Editor: Simon Sykes
Director / Camera: Andre Semenza
10 mins UK/Brazil
© Maverick Motion Ltd 2002