The Love Affair of Actions and Words: Jo-Anne Bryan’s ‘Speaking Vibrations’
A unique collaborative piece questioning the space between reception and comprehension, Speaking Vibrations is a Deaf and hearing-friendly performance exploring the many facets of identity as shaped by communication, which ran from August 7th to 9th as part of TK Fringe.
Technically innovative and exciting, this piece includes the option to watch the show with the aid of a vibrating pillow. Audience members can keep the pillow on their lap or hold it to their chest, and moments of dance and rhythmic heartbeat can be felt through it. A collage piece including original music, live accompaniment, poetry, tap and contemporary dance, the performers utilise many mediums to deliver a story of self realization and understanding.
Speaking Vibrations, as created by Jo-Anne Bryan, calls on you to feel its message rather than dissect it—scrutiny and intellectualism are misplaced here. There is a profound sense of conversation; I didn’t feel like a spectator, I felt directly involved—I felt invited.
The lighting design is uninspired in comparison to its subjects; the aura of the performers is in no way matched by their setting. The production achieves a contemplative ambiance that is jarringly juxtaposed by full-room floodlights. While sightlines are carefully considered in choreography to guide the eye from one performer to the next, lighting practices seem to prioritize visibility over artisticism. The lack of shadows does little to outline the dancers movement or expression, shoaling the visual environment.
The presence of percussive dance artist Carmelle Cachero is undeniable—the impact of her plated shoes thunder in her wake so loud you can feel it through the floor, through the risers, through your chair. Whether or not you cradle the show-specific pillow, you are shaken by her gait, moved by her dance. The effect of Cachero largely underlines the importance of bodily experience. Speaking Vibrations explores how we receive information through our senses, and Cachero’s dance simulates what sort of information is received when the sense of hearing is preceded by the sense of touch.
The sheer amount of video work in this piece calls for a more graceful broadcast. Ill-aimed projections are unaligned with the cyc, diminishing the emotional value by cheapening the quality of performance. The visuals could have also been more intentional, as the video projections seemed at times decorative rather than narratively significant. Despite its few faults, the addition of video work did enhance the performance; it provided the show’s creator with yet another barrier through which to communicate, maintaining a thematic relevance through medium.
Combining multiple performance methods, the Speaking Vibrations team reaches to their audience in recognition of the uniqueness of each human experience—through our sense of sight, hearing, and touch, we are bidden to ask ourselves Jo-Anne Bryan’s initial question: what happens when we come into contact with a body in all its forms—when we see in our feet, hear in our hands and speak in vibrations?
‘Speaking Vibrations’ is a style-defining multi and inter-disciplinary/lingual/cultural/sensory performance collective made up of Dead and hearing artists. The show ran at the TK Fringe from August 7th to 9th. You can learn more about the show here.
