The Cafe Sisyphus, Adelaide, echoes with the intoxicating chords of
Catherine David's accordion. vitruvius unfolds herself from the
difficult but spectacular Kassel position and, in a series of sleek
arabesques, one for each chord, she climbs the podium at stage left.
Half way up, she adopts the Schmacking position. This provocative
draping posture, accompanied by the thrashing of the arms, constitutes
the first clear indication to most of the audience that the dance is
approaching the dark regions of erotic desire. The ghoulish Pierre duly
focusses the roaming spot on the glimmering blue backdrop. It is the
moon, ascending over the temple enclosure.
Between chords, vitruvius sings the five stanzas of an ancient Aztec
song of love. It tells of the priestess and the goatherd, both confined
by the obligations of their caste, yet bound by a fierce and lonely
passion triggered by a chance encounter in the cornfield late one night.
Only the moon smiles benignly upon their hopeless love. So each year, on
the anniversary of their meeting, the priestess climbs to the summit of
the temple and, hearing the distant piping of the lovelorn goatherd,
sings her eerie song of love.
The schmacking position is many things, but it is severely limiting of
the diaphragm. The final stanza is therefore sung by vitruvius swaying
hypnotically at the top of the podium, the curves and undulations of her
body suggesting an unquenchable flame of desire. The final words bring
the entire performance to its fantastic culmination. Beads of
perspiration form on the brow of Catherine David. The audience erupts
into a storm of hungry applause.
CURTAIN