Giannandrea Poesio

Mixed blessings

issue 28 October 2006

Labelling is an annoying trait. The practice, instigated by some highbrows for their own pleasure, has rapidly spread among dance-goers, generating irritating generalisations. ‘It’s post-modern stuff,’ commented a young thing last Monday at the end of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s 2006 D’un soir un jour. Whether the comment was intended as praise is difficult to say. What is certain, though, is that the dance student’s comment epitomised the arbitrary pigeon-holing that underscores today’s dance culture. After all, the debate on what is post-modern dance has been going on for more than two decades in the vain hope of finding an acceptable definition. And while the debate continues, some claim that post-modernism is either long dead or never existed. I only wish whoever taught that teenager had been more careful.

Indeed, if we are to go by the definitions found in any of the available ‘What is postmodernism?’ manuals, Keersmaeker’s works have several conventional post-modern features, such as pastiche, irony, satire, multimedia and quotations.

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