Finding the rhythm of chaos through seeing and re-connecting.

We live in a time of disorder. From conflict that doesn’t make sense to seemingly inexplicable disasters, how can we start to accept the chaos we’re constantly surrounded by?

Rather than attempting to resolve these tensions, Indonesian artist Melati Suryodarmo seems to suggest accepting and connecting precisely because of such turbulence, rather than reject and attempt to smooth them out, in her new dance work Lapse. Originally released as two short films, this live performance of Lapse premiered over the weekend as part of the Esplanade’s da:ns focus 2023: CAN – Connect Asia Now programme, and explores this rather abstract concept through movement and interaction between her performers.

Even before entering the Esplanade Annexe Studio, the performance already begins outside, as we meet a strange hulking creature, completely covered in white paper ‘fur’ (Razan Wirjosandjojo) as it wanders around in the sunlight. It does not belong, yet we as the audience accept its presence as part of the performance, seemingly preparing us for the confluence of oddities we’re about to witness inside the studio.

The studio itself has been transformed somewhat with the set, with a towering aluminium ‘mountain’ as the backdrop, while Yuen Chee Wai (from The Observatory) is sheltered in an aluminium ‘cave’, providing live music and sound design for the performance. Onstage, a metallic ‘tin man’ (Gabriela Hasianna) wanders about, while performers Mekratingrum Hapsari and Yu Feng Lai carry red translucent screens, perhaps representative of an invisible wall we feel between each other that prevents us from fully connecting. As the furred creature comes from outside in, all four performers are now together, and the performance finally begins.

While Melati Suryodarmo tends to perform her own works in smaller gallery spaces, the Esplanade Annexe Studio offers her greater freedom and room to explore with her four dancers. Utilising a combination of taichi, aerobics and butoh, the performers seem to explore concepts of invisibility and disconnect, initially never seeming to notice each other as they all operate within their own respective worlds. Chee Wai’s music suddenly indicates what sounds like a glitch in the system, as we see the furred creature locked into some kind of torture for a few minutes, throbbing as it reverberates from an unknown force.

As time goes by, Hapsari and Yu Feng seem to become more conscious and aware, finally noticing these two other beings in their midst. No longer separate or oblivious, they seem to take this new information in their stride, and begin to mimic them, becoming increasingly animal-like as they squat, jump, croak. Nature becomes a mentor and teacher, as the four of them figure out their relationship with each other and what rules to follow. This is not a case of a symbiotic relationship, but one that ebbs and transforms as time goes by; we see Yu Feng embracing the furred creature who returns the hug, yet also leaping onto it, as if hunting it.

Everything seems to hang in a careful balance, all this mutual acceptance that hinges on elements finding their place among each other, of distancing ourselves from our own limited point of view and learning that we all belong in a fragile ecosystem. Care can co-exist amidst chaos, and for a time at least, Lapse seems to suggest we can indeed move forward if we start looking out for each other and our needs, particularly as the music softens, and realising how much life is all around us. But all good things come to an end, as the chaos returns once again.

Lapse climaxes with panic, as each of the performers take turns to yell out, in their own respective language, about fatal natural disasters rocking their home countries, from earthquakes to deadly floods. All this culminates in the announcement of a massive volcano, and the massive aluminium mountain transforms into that, as the performers shake it. An announcement declares the Richter scale going higher and higher, as the performers fall to the ground, completely debilitated by the shaking.

Oddly, Hapsari finds herself with a large glass bottle of milk in hand, and as the world seems to collapse around her, she instead guzzles down the entire bottle in a single continuous gulp, some of it spilling around her, but most of it ingested. We think of how we make attempts to cope when under duress, trying to stay calm knowing that everything is falling apart, and perhaps, what Hapsari is doing is the most natural thing of all – to know that certain forces cannot be stopped, and it is all we can do to simply drink, and not cry over spilt milk.

What Lapse represents then are the many gaps in our lives – between each other, between man and nature, between order and disorder. If we can somehow find. away to meld it all together, to see how turbulence is only to be expected, only then can we be at peace and understand that we work within the systems in place. These are performers who are not merely dancing, but embodying these ideas and concepts in their movements. It is slow in parts, but the joy in Lapse lies in its invitation to accept the weirdness and abstraction in all its glory.

Melati Suryodarmo also has an exhibition at the Esplanade’s Jendela space that explores enduring human behaviours and the relationship between the body and the world around us. Lapse seems to be in conversation with that exhibition, in furthering her ideas of our place in our lived environment, a call to observe and to see beyond our screens, and to learn to be at one with each other, and in so doing, close the fissures and gaps that we have developed over time.

Photo Credit: Kee Ya Ting

Lapse ran from 13th to 15th October 2023 at the Esplanade Theatre Studio. da:ns focus 2023: CAN – Connect Asia Now ran from 13th to 15th October 2023 at the Esplanade. More information available here

The next edition of da:ns focus 2023: FL/OW runs from 1st to 3rd December 2023 at the Esplanade. More information available here

Production Credits:

Concept, Choreography, Costumes and Installation: Melati Suryodarmo    Performed by:  Razan Wirjosandjojo, Mekratingrum Hapsari, Gabriela Hasianna, Yu Feng Lai    Live music: Yuen Chee Wai    Lighting design: Adrian Tan      Rehearsal Coach: Razan Wirjosandjojo   Production management: Studio Plesungan      Technical and Stage Manager: Yasmina Zulkarnain   Production Assistant: Achri Hendratno  Technical Assistant: Annastasya Verina  Sound system design: Yong Rong Zhao