Rosas danst Rosas by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Hellerau, Dresden
April 19, 2019

Veronica Posth

Rosas danst Rosas goes back to 1983 and has become a standard in the history of post-modern dance. Four women on a gloomy stage repeat movements chainlike. Starting on the floor, one starts to move, the others following one at the time, creating waves of patterns and shapes. The forms first recall an awakening and then diverse organic organisms such as shells and sea waves. But they also remind of mythological images of mermaids emerging from water or lazy but alert seals on the Earth’s surface.

Precision, quality, neat and accurate movements in repetitive forms and tempo are the striking aspects of the work; and it is that repetition that is the main characteristic. Nowadays the piece appears retro with nothing new or innovative in the choreography, but as a historic treasure it testifies to what was new back at the beginning of the ’80s when such ideas were fresh, inventive and even pioneering. It is indeed part of the history of dance.

Rosas danst RosasPhoto Anne van Aerschot
Rosas danst Rosas
Photo Anne van Aerschot

The images of the beginning soon transform into compulsive, repetitive behaviour. We see four women trapped in their own highly structured life. Women at work with their own given duties and ways to be. They move on in unison, smiling at each other as trying to find a way to keep going. Their roles, the repetition, structure, homologised dress and movement suggest a group of young female workers in an industrial environment.

On a stage that includes three pairs of same comfortable shoes and eleven differently designed wooden chairs, the four women inhabit the space; seated, standing, laying or dancing with rounded movements and spirals. They shift and drop their limbs as disconnected parts of their bodies. They repeatedly touch their hair, caress their head, abandon their heads in their hands, pull their elbows into their stomach, let fall something invisible from the breast to the floor, show their shoulder and then immediately cover it up in an endless loop. All images that steadily settle in the brain of the spectator.

All the phrases occur for a prolonged time and it is interesting to reflect upon the differences in the pace of time. In the contemporary speedy world we live in, such extended repetition transforms into boredom.

But besides reflecting on the work’s age, I also thought about some up-to-date aspects related to the #metoo movement. These women appear incapsulated in their own lives where the same events happen and nothing really changes. As there seem to be no other feasible possibilities, they adapt and make the best out of the tedious practices. Yet they also display a force, an ongoing energy and resistance that prevents them from a break down and potentially disconnecting from their given ways to be.

These are women of ‘once upon a time’, who were able to accept, adapt and tolerate unpleasant circumstances, who were able to get stronger from uneasy realities. Rosas danst Rosas made me think about changing behaviours and trends, the level of tolerance and acceptance, how it has changed since the early ’80s, and about the women’s infinite resources, power, abilities and imperturbable perdurance.