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| See what Booth gets up to in his spare time ... LONDON -- Laurie Booth is a magician of improvisation and a choreographer whose presence is both commanding and familiar within the British contemporary dance world. He is a maverick with a refreshingly different attitude about choreography who has worked both inside and outside the dance establishment, creating performances that are fueled by his eclectic background in martial arts, contact improvisation, anthropology, contemporary dance, mythology and metaphysics. After an absence of about seven years, it was good to see Booth back again at Dance Umbrella, performing his own solo, "Ice/Dreams/Fire," in collaboration with visual artist Thomas Richards and composer Nick Rothwell. Booth often takes unusual themes as a starting point for his improvisation and this piece was certainly more original than most. It was inspired by the elaborately tattooed bodies that were discovered by archaeologists in Siberia in the 1970s, perfectly preserved for 6000 years in the land's permafrost. Booth was particularly fascinated by the tattoos, which consisted of strange hybrids of animals arranged in dynamic shapes and movements; he even had replicas of them tattooed on his own body. Booth's piece is a homage to 'our' frozen ancestors. The dominating visual feature in the work is Richards's ice sculptures, suspended over tin buckets at center stage, and which slowly and methodically drip throughout the duration of the performance. The ice, frozen into red-dyed shirts and packed into small boxes before the show, melts and pushes the material into all kinds of sinister shapes. As a result, the thawing ice takes on a life of its own as it evolves into many stunning and sinister red shapes resembling wizened flesh, fetuses, flowers and coral. Rothwell's electronic score creates an aural environment that is equally strange and powerful. He manipulates the dripping sound of the thawing ice through his computers and builds a score that both co-exists and integrates with the sculptures. At times, the sound builds with the force of modern beats like an overwhelming stage presence but retreats into whispering voices suggesting the echoes of previous civilizations. Booth appears like a shaman or warlock in the shadows backstage, in dark glasses and carrying a stick. He responds to his environment totally sincerely and with a sense of steely purpose like a master of ceremony, thumping his stick in rhythms of ritual. With his piercing eyes, shaven head, tattooed muscular body and forceful stage presence he is both mesmerizing and menacing. His legs seem to fall away from under him as he twists and gyrates through his repertoire of improvised moves. Combined with visuals and sound, Booth leads us into the twilight of ancient times, picking up on the raw life force of ancient peoples made immortal by ice, embodying the energy from the tattoos. Laurie Booth combines the muscular strength of an ox with the velvety softness of a puppy, qualities that have made his movement style remarkable; improvisation makes his choreography unpredictable and fresh. He surprises us constantly by jogging urgently on the spot, diving into an inverted balance on the floor, washing his face in the melted ice; his eccentricity prompts giggles from the audience. It is great to see this in a performer and however weird some of his actions are, one can feel the depth of connection he has both with the subject matter of this piece and with his collaborators. Well I never! |
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Awesome find Mike. He has
kept that quiet!
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 12:42
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Subject: 2nd Jobs
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| From: Mike (Blakey) |
See what Booth gets up to in his spare time ...
LONDON -- Laurie
Booth is a magician of improvisation and a choreographer whose
presence is both commanding and familiar within the British
contemporary dance world. He is a maverick with a refreshingly
different attitude about choreography who has worked both
inside and outside the dance establishment, creating
performances that are fueled by his eclectic background in
martial arts, contact improvisation, anthropology,
contemporary dance, mythology and metaphysics.
After an absence
of about seven years, it was good to see Booth back again at
Dance Umbrella, performing his own solo, "Ice/Dreams/Fire," in
collaboration with visual artist Thomas Richards and composer
Nick Rothwell. Booth often takes unusual themes as a starting
point for his improvisation and this piece was certainly more
original than most. It was inspired by the elaborately
tattooed bodies that were discovered by archaeologists in
Siberia in the 1970s, perfectly preserved for 6000 years in
the land's permafrost. Booth was particularly fascinated by
the tattoos, which consisted of strange hybrids of animals
arranged in dynamic shapes and movements; he even had replicas
of them tattooed on his own body.
Booth's piece is
a homage to 'our' frozen ancestors. The dominating visual
feature in the work is Richards's ice sculptures, suspended
over tin buckets at center stage, and which slowly and
methodically drip throughout the duration of the performance.
The ice, frozen into red-dyed shirts and packed into small
boxes before the show, melts and pushes the material into all
kinds of sinister shapes. As a result, the thawing ice takes
on a life of its own as it evolves into many stunning and
sinister red shapes resembling wizened flesh, fetuses, flowers
and coral. Rothwell's electronic score creates an aural
environment that is equally strange and powerful. He
manipulates the dripping sound of the thawing ice through his
computers and builds a score that both co-exists and
integrates with the sculptures. At times, the sound builds
with the force of modern beats like an overwhelming stage
presence but retreats into whispering voices suggesting the
echoes of previous civilizations.
Booth appears
like a shaman or warlock in the shadows backstage, in dark
glasses and carrying a stick. He responds to his environment
totally sincerely and with a sense of steely purpose like a
master of ceremony, thumping his stick in rhythms of ritual.
With his piercing eyes, shaven head, tattooed muscular body
and forceful stage presence he is both mesmerizing and
menacing. His legs seem to fall away from under him as he
twists and gyrates through his repertoire of improvised moves.
Combined with visuals and sound, Booth leads us into the
twilight of ancient times, picking up on the raw life force of
ancient peoples made immortal by ice, embodying the energy
from the tattoos.
Laurie Booth
combines the muscular strength of an ox with the velvety
softness of a puppy, qualities that have made his movement
style remarkable; improvisation makes his choreography
unpredictable and fresh. He surprises us constantly by jogging
urgently on the spot, diving into an inverted balance on the
floor, washing his face in the melted ice; his eccentricity
prompts giggles from the audience. It is great to see this in
a performer and however weird some of his actions are, one can
feel the depth of connection he has both with the subject
matter of this piece and with his collaborators.
Well I
never! | |
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I get Emails for him !!! Laurie |
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