Test Run

2006, 30 mins

‘They exit with barely a backward glance at the awe-struck audience.’ The Glasgow Herald

Test Run was created for Dance Umbrella 2006 as a powerhouse solo performance by Janusz Orlik with rich, multi-layered music played live and fed through loop stations by violinists Patrycja Kujawska and Matt Howden.

A gentle, intimate solo gave way to an unexpected, aggressive and intricate trio, shaped by the physical and musical interventions of the two musicians who share the space.

Test Run became a complex, highly structured trio – a game of perseverance and persistence, exposing the huge personal demands placed on one dancer to avoid public meltdown and to keep control of the stage.

Test Run investigated how live music can be integrated with movement and, pushing dancer Janusz Orlik to his physical limits, and asks the question ‘does the dance lead the music or the music lead the dance?’

Test Run formed half of Act One, a double bill of VDT’s work partnered with Look At Me Now, Mummy touring nationally and internationally. Funded by Arts Council England.

To order a DVD copy, please contact the VDT office.

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Director's Notes

An empty stage.
No set.
No costumes.
Janusz ‘dancing on his own for once, without the usual things getting in the way… other dancers for example.’
A simple graph drawn on the floor to contain the dance.

Musicians conjure a dance from Janusz
Construction and deconstruction
Seeing it evolve before your very eyes
Seeing the real people behind the dance

Sitting / standing/ sitting
Eyes closed / eyes open / eyes closed
Voice / violin / voice
Instruction / interaction / instruction
Sleep / wake / sleep
The awake state is the apex of the dance.
Push the violin with memories of what is in your fingers.
Push the looped sound as far as it will go.
Push the body. Push the technical capability. Push the duration.
Rules are simple.
Three sections.
They come on.
They make stuff happen.
They go off.

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