Political Mother : The Political aesthetic performance

Dance review. Political Mother

Performance reviewed: 17th October,2014

With the dynamic music and breath-taking live performance, the Political Mother has stirred up the heats from the stage to the entire theatre. From the classical music to the driving rock; dramatic light effects to the inspiring folk dance, all the elements have been surprisingly combined and build up the emotional and powerful tension within the stage, and gradually lights up our heart.

Through the stunning live music, the energetic dance definitely shined under the limelight. Every moves were smooth, seems casual but precise, and with meanings behind. From prisoners to soldiers, the roles of performers changed in different scenes. Repetitive movement like hopping, hunching shoulders and raising hands appeared rapidly, which is considered to be the choreography signature movement. It is noticed that the act of raising hands can be interpreted as different meaning or emotion in particular scenes. In sometimes raising hands is like showing a sense of powerless, like a helpless victim; sometime it can be seen as a sign of worship; and sometime it is a move to show their anger, in which they refused to be the brainless puppets of the government.

The message behind Political Mother is powerful, and the way to present that idea is mind-blowing and powerful. According to Hofest Shechter, the choreographer, Political Mother is ‘all about power’. People are somehow too obsessed in obtaining power and lost their mind. Hence the leaders use that kind of desire to ‘control’ people and obtain advantages from manipulating people. There is a particular scene that impressed me a lot. A man in suit with an animal mask was ‘influencing’ people, while all the other performers were like slaves who could not refuse the ‘order’; they rose up their powerless hands above their shoulders and looked like victims. This overwhelming scene was dramatic and strong. We are human, we regard us as superior then other species, however inside we are just like beasts, who are ‘emotional needy’ and can be easily controlled.

It is such a right time to see this performance, especially in this important moment in Hong Kong. The powerless feeling presented by the dance touched my heart. Recently, series of civil disobedience, like the Umbrella revolution, have been emerged due to Hongkongers' dissatisfaction towards the government; people refuse to accept the decisions made by the power-leader (HKSAR and Beijing government), which tend to manipulate the future Chief Executive election. They refused to be controlled and strike to 'control our own destiny' by fighting for universal suffrage. It is hoped that all the Hongkongers can join hands, united and show the power of solidarity, just like the end of Political Mother, which dancers raised and held each other’s hands.

Besides of the dramatic live dance performance, the unique music performance also made Political Mother such an out-standing work. Unlike the ordinary dance show, stage is not just dominated by the dancers, but shared with all the musicians. The gradual layering of music performed by the string instruments brought the introduction of the show, raised the mood by a sudden loud electric music mixed with drums that nearly shopped our heartbeats; liked somebody had thrown a grenade on stage. When all lights were on, the three-layered music stage appeared followed with a massive size of strong music. The mixture of classical string instruments, heavy metal guitars as well as strong drums is extremely impressive and overwhelming, which directly transferred the anger and other strong emotions to the audiences.

All in all, the combinations of the rock music and the extraordinary dance performance have contributed to the great success of Political Mother, which make it such a mind-blowing performance to enjoy. It is recommended all people to watch this show and I am looking forward to Hofest’s next chorographical work.

#dancing #reflection #aesthetic