Jerome Bell

Jerome Bell, “Pichet Klunchun and myself”

i really enjoyed this performance. it raised interesting questions about definitions of contemporary performance and jerome bell was brilliant (perhaps exploitive) in using this as a forum for responding publicly to criticisms of his work.

in this conversation/demonstration style event, Bel interviews Pichet with the sort of ethnographic questions about tradition Thai dance that foreign observers, particularly European observers, ask about the work. it is an interesting re-picturing of the issues around eurocentrism, inter-culturalism, cultural globalization and contemporary performance.

can curators working from a eurocentric perspective see Pichet as a contemporary choreographer? he defines himself as such, describing and beautifully demonstrating how he takes the traditional dance he’s mastered to create a new form of dance; yet he’s promoted here as the traditional Thai dancer. Would the Eurocentric world of current contemporary performance presenting allow us to see this work as contemporary or does it always position Pichet as “the Other”?

I’m interested in learning more about Pichet’s work. in this context Jerome’s work ot me feels a bit empty and indulgent, but i enjoyed watching him and hearing him speak about his work and would definitely love to experience more of it.