#danceinanutshell |‘Benvenuto Umano’
Teatro Remondini, 24/08/2018
Written by Dylan Boswell
In near darkness, the voice speaks. This is a ritual. Her phone illuminates her journey to the stage, then she blindfolds herself.
Three men also cover their eyes, but with their mobile phones in boxes, like eye masks, streaming footage from an onstage webcam.
All of their eyes are covered, but only one is truly blind. At first they follow her movement, but then take control. They worship her as she sits high in the air above them, their heads and shoulders covered by gold foil. Now they are blind too.
They compete, but for what?
Rock, paper, scissors, then wrestling. All the time, the blindfolded woman ‘sees’ with the tiny microphone on her finger. The winner, wearing the gold foil as a cloak stands triumphantly at the side of the stage. The woman spins, her arm outstretched and her finger pointed. She stops, and the sacrifice is picked. He is bound in rope and then slowly makes his ascent. He stops mid-way, the humming dies and the ritual is over.
