Dancing Dreams

I was pretty confused at first while watching this film. The film didn't give any context, so to me, I just saw a bunch of German kids who said they didn't know how to dance learning some modern dance and touching each other. I was kind of put off by the lack of explanation and the fact that I was trying to figure out what was happening the whole time, but I tried to keep an open mind just the same.

The dance piece the teenagers were performing was "Kontakthof", written by Pina Bausch. She actually directed many of the rehearsals. Because this piece deals so much with intimacy, they thought it would be interesting to have it re-enacted by 14-18 year old teens, who often at times are uncomfortable and unused to intimate contact.

It was quite amusing seeing how in the beginning, the kids were so obviously not ok with what they had to do. One kid was supposed to strip down on stage, and when he was told that he looked so uncomfortable. I laughed, probably because I was uncomfortable with the idea. For me personally, I won't even kiss an adult on the cheek because it makes me very uncomfortable. It may seem surprising, but I'm really not a huge fan of physical contact. When I saw how close those kids had to dance together, I got nervous.

After a while though, I realized the reason I felt nervous was because they felt nervous. As the film moved on and the kids became more confident, watching them was more pleasant. Over time, they didn't just become more confident with each other, they became more confident as people.

In terms of the actual theatrics, there were a bunch of things I liked. When the pink dresses girl walked to and fro in a line as the boy tried to hop his chair around and talk to her, I thought it was simple but effective in communicating a lack of communication. In general, a lot of the scenarios were basic concepts, greatly exaggerated.

I also liked the scene where the girl was being comforted/attacked by all the boys. It started with a few helpful hands, and degenerated into almost full on harassment. Not only was it a spectacle to watch, but it was also meaningful. In addition, I happen to like stuff about hands. Don't know why.

What I appreciated the most about the piece was how it was about intimacy and freedom, but it wasn't particularly sexual. Even in the scene were a girl and guy were sitting across from each other and undressing themselves, it didn't seem like 60s rock hippies sex freedom. It was beautiful, because it seemed fresh, like they were unexperienced and they were learning the wonders of contact. This is probably because they were unexperienced, learning the wonders of contact.

In terms of stealing, I really enjoyed the big visual spectacles, like the girl being covered with hands, and the part where the men were hopping in their chairs towards the girls frilling their dresses. It's hard for me to think of what to steal, because I'm not exactly sure what I'm stealing for, and I didn't feel too strongly about any part except for the two I talked about above.