Robyn Orlin
AIDS in We must eat our suckers with the wrappers on, the Black Venus in Have you hugged, kissed and respected your brown Venus today?, images from the World Trade Center Attack in In a world full of butterflies... Robyn Orlin is never afraid to struggle directly with the world and with history, with a style that is equal parts irreverence and fragility, swagger and humility. The titles she gives her works, always so long, are like so many parables or enigmas, and suggest a certain taste for polysemy and complexity. Piling layers upon layers of history and meaning, mixing mythological motifs and scatological jokes, the South African choreographers creates a work that is part political manifesto, part cabaret, and part plastic performance. She doesn't care for the traditional separation between performers and audience; she'll lead the audience into song, will have them sit on the stage, and always encourages exchange between them and the artists she works with. Those come from very different backgrounds: South African choir singers, watchmen at the Louvre museum, hip hop, classical, and contemporary dancers... Robyn Orlin likes dancers, but more importantly she likes people. And it is almost always those people's stories and experiences that are at the heart of her creations.
RB, April 2014
