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continued... The Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
...Cast members "need to be interesting people," she said.
"We're known for having a very eclectic, interesting cast...I draw a
lot on what these performers bring. "Everyone is an expert at something
but they have to be flexible enough to do many things, and flexibility is
very important."
But what exactly does "interesting" mean? "Interesting to watch,"
Bernstein replied. "They have to be thinking individuals," Lomask
added. "I like people who can solve problems on their own, that I don't
need to tell them every single thing, that I can bring up problems and they
can offer possible solutions. Everybody's very different in our group. You
line us up and nobody looks the same. They all have very distinct qualities
of movement, distinct physical qualities, distinct strengths."
Yet, having distinctly different backgrounds may not be desirable to everyone.
The blurring of boundaries and merging of disciplines initially met with much
resistance since Lomask comes formal dance background and Bernstein, the circus."A
lot of the circus tradition is street tradition," Lomask explained. "It's
not high art in the US. So part of this bridging of my modern dance and ballet
background with Zack's circus background in a way bridged high and low art.
I don't say 'low art' in a judgmental way, but in a sense, that's kind of
how it is."
"It's been our goal to get the best of both worlds, to be able to be abstract,
intellectual, expressive and also entertaining, exciting and accessible. In
doing that, we come up against a lot of resistance from each of our backgrounds.
The modern dance world says: 'Oh, there's juggling in it. That's not really
dancing. That's too entertaining. It's not high art."
Bernstein added, "I have fiends in the arena of juggling who come to see our
shows and have nothing to say. They don't get it because it is not funny."
"Sometimes it's funny..." adds Lomask
"But it's too subtle," Bernstein continued. "It's probably too abstract for
them."
But what really concerns Lomask and Bernstein now is presenting stories about
how we as the human race can hold on to our humanity while assimilating technology
into our lives. Their stories are open-ended, they said, offering no solutions
but provoking thought. "I feel my responsibility as an artiste is to keep
my finger on the pulse of society," Lomask declared, "to be listening, to
be feeling, to be sensitive to what we're all going through, and to create
images that represent that. So when people come to our shows, they see something
on stage and they say 'Wow, you feel that too? I've been feeling that, all
the time and I thought I was the only one!" (ALLAN KOAY)
