Gala

7 years after watching Jérôme Bel's "The Show Must Go On", I decided to catch "GALA". Co-produced with our local Theatreworks this time round, I was a little skeptical of what to expect. As the show began, we were not greeted by performers on stage but instead, images of theatres and stages began to play on the screen. Stages of different shapes and sizes. Pictures showing large grand theatres to small stages in schools or streets, and even a field with just a dozen plastic chairs forming a semi circle.  The slideshow lasted for more than 10 to 15 minutes and you could feel that the audience was getting somewhat restless. Puzzled? Yes. Confused, and probably kind of bewildered at what kind of performance Jérôme Bel has put up for the next 60 minutes. I was then reminded of a similarly deliberately prolonged and controversial opening for "The Show Must Go On".  Finally, the stage was unveiled in a plain black and white background. Nothing fanciful. A young bespectacled girl in purple ballet costume came on stage and placed down a sign that read "Ballet". Then she walked to the centre of the stage and began moving in a few graceful steps. You thought that was a good attempt for someone who has just started her ballet classes. Then she exited the stage and a lady in her 50s walked to the centre of the stage. This was your typical neighbour next door, the auntie or housewife whom we are all so familiar with. There, she moved as the music started playing in the background. Not as effortless as the girl before her. It was a clumsy attempt, triggering bursts of laughter from the audience. Then, came along one by one, many other 'dancers' from very diverse backgrounds. Some of them were obviously trained ballet dancers, most of them were not. Amongst them were a lady in a wheelchair, a boy with disability, a guy who was oversized, a man wearing singlet and shorts. Not your average kind of dancer. Or rather, not what we would have to come expect of a professional dancer. We came to realise that yes, this was not a typical dance performance. They were all imperfect in their own ways. Some were comical attempts but still, there were warm and encouraging applauses from the crowds to cheer them on. Next, the sign changed to "Waltz" then "Michael Jackson". The same routine continued on stage. I came to realise while the performers themselves recognised their flaws, they were encouraged by the response from the audience. We even spotted a smile from the boy with disability as he received the loud applause from the audience. Just as we thought we knew what was to come next, the lady in her 50s came on stage with a solo dance interpretation of a melancholic song. While we were expecting more solos to follow, the sign was changed to "company company". The rest of the dancers joined her on stage. The melancholic song began playing again and the rest of them started mirroring her movements. The professional ballet dancer began to move awkwardly, so were some of the other dancers. Then one by one, they switched places. The rest began to mimick the professional ballet moves, albeit with little success. Then they attempted Chinese dance, rap dance, or simply following a clueless young boy dashing across the stage. It was all fun and laughter for the audience.  Jérôme Bel has definitely challenged the notion of dance, dancers or performance. Most importantly, he has challenged us to re-think about expectations and the existing perceptions that we have. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. It will be always unfair to judge someone in a specific frame or context. They probably cannot deliver in a certain aspect but can excel in others. And probably, who can say a bad dance is not a dance at all?