Two Faces

Dansescenen in Dansehallerne, Lille Carl, Pasteursvej 20, 1778 Cph V; Sat 20:00, Sun 15:00, Tue 10:30, Wed 10:30, Thu 10:30, Ends 26 Mar, resumes 6-10 Apr; Tickets 135kr, Concessions 40-60kr, www.dansescenen.dk

Anyone whose been conscious through their teenage years knows they are often quite different to how they appear on TV or in pop songs from the 1950s. Number one difference: there’s a lot of boredom.  Kids need an outlet, or else they’ll start dying their hair, smoking cigarettes, and listening to Norwegian black metal. That’s what Two Faces is partly about- a pubertal desperation. The show’s creator Camilla Sarrazin says that its ‘about fighting boredom, getting dressed, the conflicts with mom and dad, drinking, loneliness, happiness and melancholia, sex, death … and much, much more’.

For most, the days of pimples and love notes end, and we dye our hair back to something acceptable for the boss, and we start listening to jazz and world music. Yet Sarrazin, it seems, had higher aspirations. And that’s meant literally: she began training to become a high-flying acrobat.

Two Faces, while appearing on a dance stage, is not just dance, but also incorporates elements of Sarrazin’s background in modern circus. She will be presenting the beautiful and jumbled transition from girl to woman (in which the individual has ‘two faces’) with dance and with aerial silk, a traditional circus act.  For those who are not in the know when it comes to modern circus, aerial silk is a long length of sturdy fabric draped from the ceiling, used by a performer who climbs and hangs from the silk, using sporadic and temporary knotting to achieve numerous poses and contortions, while suspended in the air. The most provocative aspect of aerial silk performance is the fact that the performer is never actually tied to the rope, yet in just seconds is suspended without hands or feet, which - like fire breathing, sword swallowing, trapeze-ing, and other circus crafts - is both breathtaking and incredibly frightening to watch. Combined with the horrors of teenage angst, the performance is sure to keep you peeking through your fingers as you cover your eyes with your hand.

While the concept of the show was conceived by Sarrazin, who is also the sole performer, Two Faces is the result of her partnership with choreographer Kasper Ravnhøj, a Danish artist in residence at Glimt, a theatre group co-founded by Sarrazin. Glimt is relatively new to Copenhagen’s performance art scene, as it was founded only eight years ago.  The company has its roots in street performances, and with each performance attempts to blend theatre, dance, music, urban practices, and circus techniques into its own genre.  Over the past years Glimt has produced and performed shows at festivals and varying venues throughout Denmark and, in true travelling circus fashion, Europe.

The youthful spirit and themes will continue into the structure of Two Faces, as the performance will be flexible, involving all forms of theatre.  Thankfully, non-Danish speakers will not miss out on a second of the drama as it will be performed in English.

While we all remember the embarrassing moments of our teens, there is an undeniable amount of sentimentality that sticks around. Sarrazin and Ravnhøj recognise this and Two Faces will be reflecting on these memories ‘expressed in a collage of movement, contemporary circus, slam poetry, slapstick and a dying clock radio’.