Growth

a contemporary dance performance devised by KMZ

The scene starts with the sounds of dark explosions and black lightning. This however clears into birdsong, and the lights come up on creation in Spring. Representing the natural forces of sunlight, water, and organic growth, three performers tread lightly onto the stage. They are painted from head to toe yellow, blue, and green respectively with acrylic poster paint from a squeezy bottle. They skip in the pellucid dawn. A darker tone enters the soundscape as three further performers come on stage — these representing the human forces of greed, mechanisation, and orgasm-death, who are painted red, petrol blue, and black respectively. With a slightly tremulous curiosity, the natural forces come to sniff these new entrants.

At this point the music suddenly snaps into a '20s jazz standard. The six performers make a tight rectangle and dance out a carefully choreographed sequence of swing moves.

The soundscape returns, and the natural forces once again come to sniff the human forces. For a period the two groups seem to find a degree of balance, but conflict is rising. Greed suddenly rushes off stage and comes back with flaming torches. The three human forces encircle the natural forces and race round them whooping and grimacing and gnashing their teeth. The natural forces cower and cling to each other.

The music agains snaps into a '20s jazz standard. The torches are quickly extinguished and the six performers again form a rectangle to dance out the sequence.

This time there is no semblance of harmony. The natural forces are terrified; the human forces gruesome and ogrish in their desire. The natural forces are ripped from each other and hurled to the ground as the human forces set to and sodomise them brutally: red-greed (Thomas Pancake) fucks blue-sky (Will Murray); black-orgasm-death (Roman Kratochvila) fucks yellow-sunlight (Quinn Comendant); petrol-blue-mechanisation fucks green-natural-growth (Jeremy Mercer).

Performed

2 February 2002
Espace Créateur, Paris

Original Cast: Thomas Pancake, Will Murray, Roman Kratochvila, Quinn Comendant, Adrian Hornsby, Jeremy Mercer