In light of current events, the topicality of The Statement is probably what is most striking about Crystal Pite‘s new work, as the expression of the characters and their use of language are very much linked to our time. The piece could be considered a play, based on a script written by Jonathan Young that is expressed by four dancers that share a heated conversation around a conference table, symbolizing a corporate environment. Control, moral conflicts, responsibility and the inability to escape make The Statement a gripping piece that offers the audience a captivating wedge of realism.
Choreographer and performer Crystal Pite (Vancouver, Canada) is associate choreographer with NDT since 2008. Pite created Pilot X (2005), The Second Person (2007), Frontier (2008), Plot Point (2010), Solo Echo (2012), Parade (2013) and In the Event (2014) for NDT. Her work The Statement premiered on February 4 2016.
Pite is also an associate dance artist at Canada’s National Arts Centre and at Sadler’s Wells, London. In 2002 she founded her own company in Vancouver: Kidd Pivot. Pite’s ballets are performed by dance companies worldwide.
EXCERPT FROM THE STATEMENT
D
So that must be stated, on the
record, but that doesn’t mean that
it’s the way it happened. Right?
It doesn’t mean that Upstairs
doesn’t know the full extent of
their involvement.
Physical reactions from A, B and C.
B
Okay…
D
Nonetheless, I’m here to get a
statement explaining how your
department acted independently. I
don’t care if it’s the case or not
the case. I get the statement then
we can talk. Then we can deal.
It’s the only way forward.
A
We were tasked with making this
conflict. We were tasked.
B
Wait. Wait!
A
We were told one side would come at
the other –
B
Wait. Wait!
D
This is not helping.
A
And that the two sides were to
“take each other down”. That they
would “cancel each other out” and
that “space would open up”. “For
growth”. That’s the language they
used!
B
Can we take this off record? Can we
take a break?
A
No! I want this stated!
D
Hold on!
A
We were told it was a necessary,
uh, uh, what do you call it?
C
Evil.
A
A necessary evil!
– By Jonathon Young, created with Crystal Pite
CHOREOGRAPHY CRYSTAL PITE
MUSIC OWEN BELTON
DRAMATURGY JONATHON YOUNG
VOCAL PERFORMANCE MEG ROE, COLLEEN WHEELER, ANDREW WHEELER, JONATHON YOUNG
