'In a world where we can be constantly entertained and disconnected from society in the same breath, where does the need for performance live now?' Choreographer and dancer Emily Kilkenny Roddy introduces Ruining The Act, her new dance piece which premieres this June 2023 with performances in Laois and Dublin.
Ruining The Act, simply put, is four performers putting on a show, with an emphasis on what we show, acknowledging the concept of an audience at all times.
It's a dance performance that both questions and celebrates how we, as people, perform, as we navigate the world. It’s a look inside the social construct of performance and what that means to the individual both within the traditional performance environment we work in and cultural performance we all engage with in everyday life.
We, as people, perform every day in different magnitudes. We could perform a clear role as part of our job, adhering to the responsibilities set by the framework, like the front of house manager of a busy restaurant. But outside of occupation, it is almost our job to play our part in the performance of human interaction. Anyone we encounter has the opportunity to be an audience to many of these performances and wow, aren’t there some incredible performers out there. In a world where we can be constantly entertained and disconnected from society in the same breath, where does the need for performance live now?
So what is it to perform in modern life? A place where we are constantly faced with new versions of reality every day, which can lead to new versions of how we present ourselves. With social media, AI and post-Covid disconnection, it’s hard to know where and what is the real. Where does the offstage version of ourselves live, is there a place in our culture for it anymore. We navigate life in states of both the survival brain and the more curious learning brain. We either consciously or subconsciously, lean towards one of these states which affects all areas of our life. What is this survival state within the realm of performance, specifically what do we do to fight and continue putting on the act?
It is believed that the stage presents things that are make-believe; so its presumed life presents things that are real and sometimes not well rehearsed. But I argue that life can present the over rehearsed to the point of not even recognising our daily "shows" so to speak, and while the stage is make-believe there is so much room for real.
How can I make a show about performance; something I truly love but also find equally bizarre in modern society? I don’t know is the answer, and that brings me great joy. Uncertainty can be really exciting and keeps you grounded in the now, the real that I crave to find in an audience-stage structured performance. When is the act just an act and when do we see the cracks? What does it look like to lean into our reflexes, engage with the options available to us outside the realm of the structure? I challenge you to ruin the act at times, you never know, it might be really gas.
Ruining The Act is at Dunamaise Arts Centre, Laois on June 1st, and at, The Complex, Dublin on June 8th.
