跨艺·观察（四）

昨晚，进剧场run through。从白天到晚上；从排练室到剧场；有舞台，有座席，时间、空间又一次“在别处”。

1、小剧场的忧与喜

习惯了国家大剧院、保利剧院乃至舞院新剧场的宽敞，这个小剧场让人有点局促感——几近“裸台”。但是它又带来了当下“裸”的含义——接近真实，肢体、面部的细节，气息的感同身受——特别是赵梁作品中舞者的嘴巴被绷带反弹时那一声清脆的“啪”——真实与感动。实验性小剧场的价值所在正是后现代生活与艺术边界消失的“玩味”所在。西方后现代的剧场中，我们体验到什么呢？意象而已！当代剧场的根本元素就是各种视觉和听觉的意象：语言可有可无；脚本有也好，没有也无所谓。没有主题，没有主旨，没有故事——叙事结构几乎荡然无存；整个演出毋宁是个持续蜕变的过程，好象是在舞台镜框中不断展现的巨幅拼贴一般。后现代剧场否定了脚本的存在，而强调演出的自由与自发性，也就否定了一切的客观性和可约束性。所以在后现代剧场中，只要你高兴，没有什么是可以或不可以的。

2、最熟悉的陌生人

跨艺从2009年起至今已“四岁”了 ，从北京与伦敦，到北京－台北－伦敦，新舞者、编导、学者的来来往往，让跨艺越来越像一个大家庭。然而，地域文化、语言间的差异，让大家在同一个主题、时空中常常成为“最熟悉的陌生人”。什么是跨文化？它是对于与本民族文化有差异或冲突的文化现象、风俗、习惯等有充分正确的认识，并在此基础上以包容的态度予以接受与适应。所以，我越来越谨慎对跨艺的作品表达出好与不好的评判或喜欢与不喜欢的评价。基于一个普通观众，我有自己的喜恶——我喜欢古典的东西；基于一个研究者，我尽量带着客观性去理解。编导、舞者的身体语言这是阐释他们的“此时此地”，学者的文字语言是阐释我们的“此时此地”。如同昨天与编导座谈是，台北的董怡芬所说的“跨艺的影响是肯定会有的，但也许是五年后的某一天才忽然感觉到”。有时，艺术家的敏感是无意识的先行，评论家的敏感则是对这种无意识的有意识的理解与阐释。同在一个剧场，我们彼此是最熟悉的陌生人。

“陌生化”可以用来理解表演，也可以用来理解历史与文化。

Translation…

ArtsCross Observations (4)

Last night, we went to the theatre for a run through. From morning to night; from the studio to the theatre; the stage, the seats…time and space were once more “being elsewhere”.

1. The problems and pleasures of a small theatre
Being used to the space in the China National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Poly Theatre, and even the new theatre of the Beijing Dance Academy, I found this little theatre a little cramped — almost “a naked stage.” But it also brought with it the “nakedness” of the moment — proximity to authenticity, the arms and legs, the details of the face, the sensations of breathing — particularly in Zhao Liang’s work where the bands tied around the dancers’ mouths broke with a sharp “snap” there was a sense of truth and emotion. The value of small experimental theatres is the way they generate fun by making the borders between post-modern life and art disappear. So what is it that we can experience in Western post-modernist theatre? Imagery! The fundamental purpose of contemporary theatre is the imagery it brings to the senses: whether or not there is speech or a script, it doesn’t matter. No theme, no purpose, no story — the narrative structure is almost empty. Rather, the entire performance is a sustained process of transformation — like a huge collage evolving within the boundaries of the stage. Post-modernist theatre rejects the existence of the script, emphasizing the freedom and spontaneity of the performance. It also rejects all objectivity and constraint. Thus, in post-modernist theatre, the only important thing is that it makes you happy. Everything is allowed.

2. The most familiar stranger
During the four year journey of ArtsCross, starting in 2009 and continuing until today,  it has travelled from Beijing and London to Beijing, to Taipei and then to London once more. New dancers, choreographers, academics have come and gone, and ArtsCross has begun to look more and more like a big family. Through bringing cultural and linguistic differences together around a common theme, ArtsCross has often made participants seem like “familiar strangers”. What is cross-culturalism? It means developing a full, accurate understanding of cultural phenomena, customs or habits which are at odds with one’s own ethnic culture, and seeking to use this foundation to cultivate a tolerant, accepting attitude. As a result, I have become more and more careful about saying whether any of the ArtsCross pieces were good or bad, or saying that I liked them or didn’t like them. As a normal observer, I can have my own preferences and dislikes — I like classical things. As a researcher, I do my utmost to seek to understand objectively. Choreographers and dancers use their body language to portray their ideas in the “here and now”, while academics use words and language to accomplish the same thing. For example, during yesterday’s seminar with the choreographers, the Taiwanese choreographer Tung I-Fen said that, “ArtsCross will certainly have an impact, but it may be an impact which is only felt unexpectedly in five years’ time.” At times, the sensitivities of artists can serve as sentinels for their unconscious. The sensitivities of critics are a conscious interpretation and recounting of this unconscious aspect. Together in the same theatre, we felt like ‘familiar strangers.’

The idea of “defamiliarisation” can be used to understand performance. It can also be used to understand history and culture.