She added: But we didn’t reach out. ”
In a way, Rainer’s final dance is a tale of life’s ending and coming of age, as she examines her own history and uses familiar artistic tools: language, dance, and the concept of “radical juxtaposition.” It is an opportunity to speak up. A term used by Susan Sontag to describe the Surrealist technique, which relates to a collection of seemingly disparate objects.
In “Herzapoppin” performer For Live Arts, Rainer mixes narration, music and movement sources from Laurel and Hardy, “The Dying Swan”, and two films. “Herza Poppin'” (1941) and Jean Vigo’s “Zero for Conduct” (1933). The very idea of combining her disjointed things still fills her with joy. Reiner’s brand of humor is firmly rooted in the deadpan world.
In order to speak his mind freely, Rayner writes from the point of view of the sun god Apollo Musagetes. “Apollo walks around and has these experiences,” she said.
Text displayed in the narration is read aloud by Black member of the cast, David Thomson. Getting a black man to talk about white racism makes the language even more graphic, but for Thomson, the process wasn’t entirely smooth. He asked her to edit the parts.
“I was like, ‘I wouldn’t say that,'” he said. “I asked her, ‘Why did you let me do this narration?'” I need it.”