Miguel Gutierrez (USA) Heavens what have I done

70% performance 15% pathos 15% entertainment

A trashy clownfaced man with a Marie Antoinette wig and greasy make-up over stubble grabs the microphone and then the audience for a rambling, now caustic, now maudlin artist’s monologue: the yearning for success, the hypocrisies of an insecure world. And, of course, critics. Personal thoughts mingle with generalities. Vulnerabilities, losses. And strange duet with Cecilia Bartoli’s world-famous mezzo-soprano singing “arie antiche” from Vivaldi and other composers. Between stand-up and conceptual dance, at breath-taking speed. Every movement deliberate and direct, no matter how fleeting it feels.
The American choreographer Gutierrez, whose solo is now billing in Graz flirts and plays with the audience, before finally giving the short evening a new twist – a black-humour anticipation of one’s own demise, a physical and emotional tour de force full of narcissism and self-doubt – melodramatic and prosaic, full of humour and shrewdness. Until everything comes crashing down.