the institute for crazy dancing

Wakefield PlankMan

by Administrator 740 days ago

the never ending plank

 

Tiago Gambogi walked the never ending plank around Cathedral Square in Wakefield for 6 hours without a break on Tuesday 13th July... Following are his notes:

Hi everyone,

Good morning!Apologies if I upset any of you yesterday. I need to work on the way that I voice how I feel things. It was really burning hot in my head / heart / body. If you want to talk to me about it please feel free at anytime.

Moving on... I made notes about our performance / experience in Wakefield yesterday. It would be useful and interesting if you could add your feelings, impressions and observations as well.

Please find it below.

Walking the never ending plank around the circle : Tuesday, 13th July 2010

Performer 1 - Plank Man: Tiago Gambogi

Performers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 - The Bridge People / Boat Makers / Circle Minders: Stevie Goodwin, Jason Hird, Jo Leishmann, Rachel Dean, Dave Lazenby, Henry the Philosopher

Theatre Company: Institute for Crazy Dancing

Project: Ship of Fools

Location: Wakefield (Yorkshire, UK), space outside the Cathedral

Duration: 6 hours, from 11am until 5pm

Material:

- 2 planks of wood, same size and width, one is slightly darker than the other.

- White rope.

- White Canvas.

Action - Plank Man: walking on one plank, returning and lifting up the 2nd plank in the air, holding it above head, turning on spot to change direction walking forward in the plank, placing the 2nd plank on floor, walking over it. Repeat the action over and over.

Action - The Bridge People:

- Interact / talk with the passers-by about what they see, feel, think.

- Make boats out of canvas.

- Walk around the circle.

Tiago Gambogi, observations as a performer - Plank Man:

 

- The action became precisely choreographed after being performed over and over again. It was always executed in the same way.

- The pauses between the movements became longer throughout the day. I felt more confident, present and at ease with the performance.

- I made eye contact with the passers-by / audience when they entered my visual field. I kept a neutral stance, focusing on the action. However, I smiled and reacted to what some people said to me.

- People asked me mainly 2 questions: what are you doing? Why are you doing this? I answered: I am walking the plank. There is no why.

- I felt strong and liberated being in an outdoor space, feeling and perceiving the environment around me.

- I didn't eat or drink anything throughout the performance. I didn't go to the toilet either.

- Emotions came and went: fear, desire, calmness, decision, etc. The action gave me strength.

- I thought about Jesus carrying the cross. I thought about penitence. I thought about commitment. I thought about being present.

- Making eye contact was the most profound moment. Seeing their faces was a glimpse of their inner world.

- A pointless and mysterious action that sparkled complete puzzlement.

 

Passers by / Audience reactions and questions

- What are you doing?

- Why are you doing this?

- I am sorry son, but I must say that you are really stupid.

- Don't you have anything better to do with your time? And you are getting paid to do this!

- There are no sharks down there.

- It's about the secret of life. It's unusual what he is doing.

- Teenager took away one of the planks. Stevie talked to him and got it back.

- Two men pass by and "accidentally" kick one of the planks. I didn't think it was an accident though. One of them said he was a builder, apologised and re-aligned the plank.

- One teenager tried to kick a football on me.

- An old man watched the performance for a very long time although he said that it was not interesting at all.

- One girl came under the plank in a playful action.

- When I was in jail I had to walk around in circles. I know exactly what he is feeling.

- Man spitted on the floor more and more as I got closer to him.

- Woman with a short skirt and high heels sat on the bench and smiled at me.

- Is he gay?

- Is he getting paid to do this?

- How much does he get paid?

- Who is paying for this?

- Stevie said: You - the tax-payer! The policeman couldn't believe it!

- Teenagers all hang out by a wall, watching the performance and shouting comments.

- Are you going to do a back flip?

- Older lady says: why don't you sing us a song, like "Are you lonesome tonight?"

- Someone is going to beat you up!

- You are not going to walk the plank for very long!

- There must be a reason why you are doing this!

- People watch from all distances.

- Three black foreign men watch it from very close distance and talk in their native language.

- Skate boarding guys pass by and mimic the plank action with their skate boards.

- Big very funny girl makes funny comments and laughs out loud.

- Are you the plank man?

- Are you a plonker?

 

Check out Tiago's work, latest photos, videos, etc on:

www.myspace.com/tiagogambogi

TIAGO GAMBOGI

Brasilian Extraordinaire

Performer, Dancer, Actor, Director/Choreographer

www.myspace.com/tiagogambogi

 

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• Next