by Synnøve Helene Hersnæs (15 years old)

"Forces" is a performance that was shown at the Black Box Theatre on Thursday, November 27. Behind the concept, direction and text are Belgians Leslie Mannès, Thomas Turine and Vincent Lemaître. The concept of this performance is to give the audience an experience where you get to use all your senses and you get to feel everything, both physically and mentally. The performance lasts 50 minutes, but I think this was 50 minutes too long.

The performance starts with a completely black stage and hall. Gradually, a little light comes in and focuses on three dancers. The dancers are wearing hoods that prevent you from seeing their faces. It was completely black inside the hoods, which was cool, but also a little disgusting. The whole dance is like a spiritual ritual. An intense experience where the dancers draw us into a universe of earthly, technological and human forces.

I think the dancers were good. They had clear and precise movements, but it doesn't do anything for me. The dance is very repetitive, as is the soundtrack. The same pounding sound runs throughout almost the entire performance, which made me quite tired of it. It's not until the end of the performance that the music starts playing. Much of the same thing goes on when it comes to the movements. Almost every movement is done many times in a row, which I think is a bit unnecessary. There's simply too little contrast in every way. The whole performance gives me a slightly uncomfortable feeling. If the goal was to creep me out, they definitely nailed it. 

Overall, it was well-performed, but I don't understand the point or importance of it. It probably wasn't for me, as I like a bit more variety and a bit more happening. For me, this was a bit boring.

Theater at its most pointless

By Lucas Alexander Rikstad-Vindenes (15 years old)

A long yawn disguised as art

To a certain extent I can understand the meaning behind “Forces”, but the joke I’m afraid I’ll never understand, because what’s the point of performances like this? Art should be something you work for, it should be something more than just three dancers standing for an hour waving their arms to repetitive thumping. It’s certain that Mannès, Turin and Lemaître have tried to convey a deeper meaning with this performance, but I can’t appreciate it when the work is apparently so minimal and repetitive. Throughout the performance I was bored, the piece was long-winded and what I perceived as contentless.

Cyborg warrior shamans

“Forces” is described as a “futuristic and immersive ritual,” where the three dancers each play a “cyborg warrior shaman.” They are supposed to “transform” their bodies into instruments for something “greater,” a “collective and liberating metamorphosis,” but it didn’t impress me. 

“Forces” is supposed to be so very deep, it's supposed to make you feel so many different things, using what? Tired movements, and pounding. 

I'm sure some people out there would call "Forces" brilliant, but if this can be considered genius, I think we humans need to ask ourselves what we're doing. The sad thing is that I don't even know if "Forces" had any meaning at all, to me it seems like Mannès, Turin and Lemaître were just waving their arms around for fun, "Forces" could very well just be an early April Fool's joke on their part.