http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpN57QokPFc
BARK! a dance for a blindfolded audience:
Watching a performance which explores taking away sight and using smell, touch and sound to create an immersive performance enabled us to analyse what we think would work well in a performance like this, and what we think would not be possible and would be least effective.
BARK! dance company gave the audience blindfolds to put on together before they entered the performance space, i feel this created a less effective performance as the audience felt a kind of security knowing that the people they came to the performance with were sat next to them. This was shown in the video by a gentleman laughing when something made him jump, if he would have not known if anybody was near in the performance it would have enabled him to get more involved in the performance.
The music within the piece creates much tension for the audience, including me who was simply watching via the Internet, it created an dark and intense atmosphere. However, the sounds which the performers made themselves were much more effective as it made the audience think they might be somewhere else, such as the wheels on the wall sounding like you were on a train.
The performance involved audience participation, the audience were a major part of the piece. The actors moved the audience into different spaces and positions, you could see that this made them feel anxious and uneasy by their body gestures and movement.
At the end of the performance the audience members were led out one by one (feeling alone and bewildered) and were told to take their blindfolds off in the entrance where they started. This for me made the performance less effective as the foyer was a place where all the participants gathered and were able to talk an reflect on their experience. If the audience were left on their own they would have felt more of an individual experience. What i did like is that the audience were lead to where they started which left them with a confused idea of what happened: Did that really just happen?
This video has given us ideas on how to make a more immersive performance for the audience which involves the senses.
Charlotte Meek
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