THESE
ARE…
the days my friend
tread on gold
the target in the corner of the eye
the grip…
just past the pink balloon
actually just: Bang!
the cowboys are loose
shoot beyond your shadow
there remains no more than a shoulder shrug
beyond the distant borders
outmaneuver your self
you insolent hero
This go plastic production deals with western genre, its heroes, its myths and its limits. A trip to the wild and golden expanses and its dusty plains, where the duels of the male facets take place.
Who will be the first?
„I don’t like spray cream, but cowboys shaving with it is absolutely worth watching.“
“Go West, Young Man” was a well-known political slogan in the mid-19th century, for the conquest of the western territories of the North American continent. An entire film genre – the Western – is dedicated precisely to those men who followed this call and shaped the idea of a gender role that persists, as it were, today as an advertising icon: the Marlboro Man.
From this story and the cowboy films, movement sequences were created for a dance piece for 4 + 1 men, a multifaceted contribution by go plastic to current debates about masculinity.
The piece resembles a trip into the wild, golden expanses of the western genre and its dusty plains where duels for masculinity take place. Who will be first? This naturalistic concept of masculinity may well resurface in the current changes in gender roles and the world of work. Men who cling to traditional role models of male dominance “are most likely to fall back on naturalistic concepts of masculinity in their search for compensation for a fragile male role.” (Böhnisch, Lothar: Male Socialization, 2013, p. 21)
The team around go plastic fillets stereotypes charmingly and humorously to question the masculine without exposing it. The “Song of Death” resounds and cowboys sway repeatedly in the tango. A choreography of cowboys has been created that does not miss typical go plastic movements. Casually the cowboy defies boredom and remains tense. Prepared for the sudden fight, the choreographed brawl in the saloon or a dance in the hail of bullets.
Denise Ackermann (Curator / Lecturer Art & Society), Summer 2021
VIDEO
GALLERY
PERFORMANCES
World premiere & further shows:
HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden • Dezember 2015
Touring / Excerpts:
work in progress „Right Behind You“ // Tanzwoche Dresden • Societaetstheater Dresden • April 2015
Montagscafe Kleines Haus Dresden (Staatsschauspiel Dresden) • Dezember 2015
LOFFT das Theater Leipzig • April 2017
HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden • in a row festival • September 2017
Motorenhalle – Projektzentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst Dresden • November 2017
PRESS
….“Go west, young man”, the 1936 film stars my namesake, Mae West (who wrote the screenplay) and the steamy Randolf Scott. The name was a word play on her name and one of the biggest catch phrases of Manifest Destiny, “Go west, young man, go west.” It is usually credited to influential New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley, a North-Easterner who only traveled west once. “Westerns have been the mainstay of the industry ever since its beginning. And they have been good to me. Westerns are a type of picture which everyone can see and enjoy.” Randolph Scott
Dresden choreographer, Cindy Hammer, used to work in a video store. Go West, Young Man is part of a series based on move genres. You guessed it: this one is based on Westerns. It plays with all the clichés. It wasn’t as easy as you’d think. When searching for material, Cindy found that everything they did in the movies seemed to be to get the gal. They wanted it to be just the guys. So that left lots of riding, roping and fighting in a healthy blend of urban and contemporary moves.
The set and use of video were a sharp contrast to the sparseness of the Supernaturals. It was visually packed like a good movie should be. Sometimes the moves pushed repetition beyond the comfort borders like any B Western worth its salt would. I forgot to ask who chose the music. I am not sure why, but when I was watching, it felt like a guy had chosen it. Was that correct or was it because I think Westerns are typically guy flicks? To be honest, I wish I hadn’t seen this at the same time I was writing about Melora Kuhn’s The Drawing Room. I was just too deep in this time in history to appreciate the superficial nature of Westerns. I feel like I need to see it again…“
The Leipzig Glocal, Maeshelle West, 4. Mai 2017
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CAST & CREW
Dance / Performance:
Joseph Hernandez / Jared Marks / Alex „Kelox“ Miller/ Christian Novopavlovski
Special Guests:
Rummelsnuff, Fynn Schmidt, Charles Washington, Phillip Lehmann (Lehmi THE SAXONZ), Falk Töpfer, Ehud Roffe
Choreography:
Cindy Hammer
Dramaturgy:
Susan Schubert
Visuals:
Benjamin Schindler
Music:
Various Artists
Light-Design:
Johannes Zink
Costume:
Robin Jung
Stagee:
Benjamin Henrichs
Photo:
Juliane Müller, Peter R. Fiebig, Stephan Böhlig, Stephan Tautz
Prod. – Assistance:
Annika Desiree Schröter
Video:
Benjamin Schindler, Stephan Tautz, Susan Schubert
Art Work:
Stephan Tautz
PARTNER & FINANCIAL SUPPORT
A production by go plastic company in co-production with HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden. Supported by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and the Office for Culture and Monument Protection Dresden. With the kind support of TENZA schmiede Dresden, tanteleuk and GrooveStation Dresden.
RESEARCH & REHEARSALS
Research “Right behind you” // Schubert/Hammer/Novopavlovski
