Herding behavior

Hi loves! Today I want to post something semi-personal! For those that have (truly) known me since a young age, know that I have always had a weakness when it comes to the performing arts. Although I have had my share of movie auditions and/or experiences as an extra either on TV or the big screen, acting was never really my thing. My heart had a soft spot for dancing.

I danced the usual streetdance and hiphop, but was also taught the art of Indonesian court dancing. Writing and dancing were my favorite things to do after school, albeit behind closed doors. The thrill of being on stage is something that I still yearn for (I have performed many times), but somewhere in between childhood dreams and growing up this form of expression was lost along the way. The only ways in which I am able to creatively express myself currently is through this blog, and supposedly through my teachings at Grad school (my business specialization is centered upon the creative industries).

Anyways, enough babbling about me, I want to end this post by sharing an experience I recently had with the performing arts. I visited the theater after many many years, initially solely to support one of the castmembers of the play I was attending. Because the play (see trailer above) would be at a children's theater and the age recommendation was set on 13+, I was not sure whether it was age appropriate enough for me to enjoy and what to expect. But I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! On the official website, the play is described as follows:

Rite of Spring: Threat of beauty

The earth is still in deep hibernation as eight young women gather to celebrate spring. They worship nature with their fertility rites. They dance and seduce. But then secrets and primal forces break loose. A sacrifice must be made.

The Rite of Spring is about peer pressure, hormones and the fear of beauty. A modern coming of age story mixed with prehistoric pagan spring rituals. The threat of natural forces, the struggle with oneself and the desire to break free turn these young women into charming monsters. Close to the heart theater, figuratively and literally, because the audience sits around the performance area.

Indeed, peer pressure and female hormones were some of the first things that jumped to mind while I was watching the play. It is difficult for me to share my personal opinion about it without giving any spoilers away, also because the term 'spoiler' itself can be interpreted in so many ways (e.g. I have a dear friend who considers trailers to be spoilers). But hey, my blog, my creative platform right?! 

To me, the play was very confronting and depicted many situations and emotions that girls (and those close to becoming a woman) can identify with. We all know how remarkable and fascinating women's behavior and its fickle nature can be. But to see it acted out in such a creative and bold way, makes you question your behavior (i.e. do I really act like that?) An important lesson I took home from the play is that us girls are hardly ever lonely in our bipolar moods of wanting to belong, but also wanting to stand out. Of feeling on top of the world one second, but feeling immensely sad the other.

So although the play was pretty confrontational about society's expectations from women and how easily we let ourselves actually be influenced and almost molded by it, it was also very comforting in telling me that 'Hey, it's okay. We all go through it.' 

http://www.maastd.nl/voorstelling/voorjaarsoffer/

Lobi,

p.s. The play is called 'Voorjaarsoffer' in Dutch! 

Image and video by Maas Theater en Dans