In Between Time 15

Various Venues, Bristol

Fujiko Nakaya’s Fog Bridge, a beacon of mist in the city centre, beautifully manifested the tempestuous themes of this year’s Bristol International Festival, which united artists and audiences from near and far for a weekend that’s schedule was packed with performances, installations and happenings.

Approaching the end of the bridge, clouds part to reveal the Arnolfini; the festival’s hub, long-term partner, and venue for many of the works presented at IBT15. Events take place right across the city, from Tyntesfield House to Knowle West, but Arnolfini is the festival’s beating heart and you can feel the hum of anticipation emanating from its centre.

Although international by name, In Between Time have used this opportunity to support the work of six emerging UK artists through their New Bloods programme. Jo Hellier’s Floodplans, a sound-driven performance exploring ideas of confluence (when two rivers meet) and our individual relationship to climate change, was itself a little like being submerged under water. Yas Clarke’s score of trickling, dripping and rushing water thundered at times with such force that I could feel my coffee shaking in its paper cup. The sound, given the same significance as the action onstage, washed intermittently over the audience and performers as they waited in near-darkness for the show to surface for air again. When the lights came up and the soundwaves subsided, Hellier and Clarke explored the themes with intense physicality; crashing together, wrestling each other to the floor, stirring and entwining their bodies in their sleep. As I left the theatre, Hellier’s words rang in my ears; “Afterwards it was completely silent.” But there is something much more profound simmering under the surface if only Hellier could scratch deep enough. It feels new, its enquiries feel fresh and unfulfilled, there is further to go. Which is perhaps what the work commissioned by New Bloods should be. This isn’t just a showcase, it’s a chance to test the water, to take big risks, to jump straight in at the deep end and really ‘debut’ a work. For this, Hellier should feel incredibly proud. Despite its boundless potential for development, Floodplans took the plunge and held its own alongside the rest.

Trajal Harrell’s Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church comes in eight sizes. For IBT15 he shares three: (M)imosa, a larger work for four performers, and (S) and (XS) – two solo explorations by Harrell himself. The series thrusts together two seemingly ideological and aesthetic opposites in 20th century dance history. Although they emerged in the same city at the same time, the theatrically extravagant Harlem Balls (birthplace of voguing), and the postmodern, minimalist Judson Dance Theatre were worlds apart in style, philosophy, social class and character. (M)imosa was the most striking and immediately accessible of the three works. With the cast seamlessly shifting between states of performance, the audience was left feeling unsure about what was ‘real’ and what wasn’t. Hilarious, moving and at times utterly absurd, (M)imosa was such a visceral highlight of the festival that no show I saw afterwards could quite match it.

In stark contrast, (S) and (XS) seemed more reflective studies than works made with the thrill of performance in mind. Interesting examinations in their own right, there was a sense of audience anticipation in the room that was met with a sort of anti-climax in comparison to the experience of the initial show. I wonder, had the works been presented in a different order with (M)imosa closing the festival instead of opening it, if the real detail and finesse of Harrell’s performance in (S) and (XS) might have been better appreciated. It is, however, particularly across these two smaller works that we see Harrell’s examination of scale and audience experience, or ‘occularity’ as he himself describes it, come to fruition. Audience numbers intentionally get smaller across the works and, in contrast, more reading material is offered to aid understanding. As a viewer, this playing with occularity resulted in an almost hyper-awareness of my own particular gaze; as part of the audience group en-masse and in the personal experiencing of the work as an individual.

It’s exciting to see a female-led arts organisation successfully championing such a strong, diverse, risk-taking programme of work. This shouldn’t be noteworthy in 2015, but it is. Perhaps more exciting are the manifold dimensions across which IBT15 strives to operate: uniting local and international artists from across the visual and performing arts – those just starting out (New Bloods) to those with long and prosperous careers behind them (Fujiko Nakaya, Forced Entertainment); seasoned audiences to industry professionals to passers-by; venues that regularly host performances and exhibitions to public spaces and unusual sites. This is an operation of epic proportions and Jo Hellier’s Floodplans perfectly mirrors the ethos of the weekend. This is a festival of confluence. Where rivers meet and are bridged. Whether coming together in quiet harmony or crashing through in a wave of destruction, we can’t help but get swept along with the flow.

Photography by: Max McClure, Oliver Rudkin + IBT