In Salvation, I was curious to question my aesthetic, which has for the past few years, been quite deconstructed, composed, carefully selected, attempting to avoid excess: “too much” beauty, “too much” drama, “too much” representation. I feel that this avoidance was partly based on pressures I felt from what I perceive as contemporary dance discourse, & I was never very good at it. Criticism of my work has often involved pointing out the “too much” problem. “Too” obvious. In this solo, I’m trying to play with letting it all hang out. Bringing myself into somewhat extreme states, screaming, bleeding, performing. I am exploring the possibility of working intelligently & authentically with beauty, emotions, representation, & art as a space for transformation.

I am also playing with the image I perceive others as having of me. My long hair, beard & semitic features seem to be enough to make many people associate me with Jesus Christ (as the girl in the strip club I once visited said when i walked through the door: “Oh my God, it’s Jesus Christ!”). That, plus a certain artist’s dose of narcissism & I admit, a bit of a messiah complex, makes me feel a certain connection to the historical/imagined/symbolic figure of Jesus & other messianic figures.

The Artist & the Messiah can…

• …expand their audience’s consciousness
• …serve people’s needs
• …facilitate their “audience’s” process
• …give up the possibility of having a normal life & experience “passion” in a way others are afraid of, in order to express/represent/provide an outlet for the hopes & fears of the people
• …be a pop star.

Photos by Torsten Flüh

December 2011 // Uferstudios // Berlin

Dr. Torsten Flüh’s review (in German) on Night Out @Berlin

Performanc & Choreography

David Bloom