Anonymous
The word "Anonymous" is in fact a very strange and controversial
word. It describes a person, who is unnamed, featureless, unknown,
unrecognized etc...
It is strange and controversial, because we all have names and
features, we are known to others, and we can be described and
recognized...
Maybe our wish to be "Anonymous" has to do with our natural
feeling for deception and camouflage, in order to protect
ourselves.
There are secrets, which we consciously or subconsciously carry
within us, or secrets we might not even be aware of...
Every one of us is a very complex human being and it almost
always takes us our entire life to search for the reasons for
our existence, but certainly never finding it...
Clearly we all need help in order to somehow come to terms with
the world within us, and how this world might correspond with our
surroundings. What is there hidden inside us, that we are willing
to share with others, or what are the secrets we just want to keep
to ourselves..?
None of us has ever found solutions for our understanding of this
problem, but we all keep looking for them. One of the most viable
ideas the human race ever invented, is the idea the Gods.
This “Science fiction-like” invention of Gods is pure genius.
Basically it tries to explain all inexplicable. This genius lies
in the fact that we have created a mystery, which can be neither
proved nor denied. It is all a matter of personal belief and
conviction.
But in order to make this idea work, we need to solve one
essential problem: "How can we communicate with Gods..?"
God or Gods are too abstract and too far away. So in order to
communicate with them and to understand their ideas, we have
invented the Angels. They are the messengers between the Gods
high above, and us, patients, grounded by our physical and
emotional gravity and filled with doubts and confusion...
The task of the Angels has never been easy, in fact impossible!
They are half human and half divine, and I would not at all be
surprised, if they were slightly schizophrenic...
They have my total sympathy, because their mission is in fact
“Mission Impossible”. They have to fly at high speed between
Heaven and Earth, and totally exhausted they descend upon us
trying to solve our problems...
Working on this small project named “Anonymous”, created for
the newly restored Korzo Theatre in 2011, was actually a very
fine and exciting experience.
I had the feeling that the performers of this work - Sabine
and Cora, were (maybe consciously, maybe subconsciously)
aware of the fact, that Angels have a very important role to play
in our lives, and that without their hard work, we would have
no chance to survive...
In my modest research, I have come across many images of Angels
from the medieval or Pre-Raphaelite time, who often appear as
twins... Initially I found this strange, but soon I have understood:
The Angels in their half human - half divine appearance are as
tortured and frustrated as we are. They must satisfy their
bosses as well as their earthly patients. And I think that their
impossible and exhausting task made them appear in couples,
or as twins!
This twin-appearance enables them to share their burden of
responsibility and consequently makes them lighter, in order
to defy gravity and fly easier, quicker and more efficiently...
Back to us, human beings, with our problems defined by our
physical and emotional weight, and the deep secrets hidden
inside us. Our deepest secrets can never be revealed, because
if revealed they will no longer be our deepest secrets...
Jiří Kylián - February 29, 2012
Anonymous - Short text
I have given our work this title because the author of the
musical composition I chose, is not known - he is anonymous -
this means simply that there is a work of art floating in our
world with no name attached...
This fact tells us an interesting story and throws up many
questions:
Why do we not know the name of the person, who wrote this song..?
Do we want to be remembered? And if so, how do we want to be
remembered..?
Or do we simply prefer to be forgotten..?
Who knows me..? Who knows who I am..?
Do I really know my friends..?
I might have 20.000 friends on my face book, but they don't
know me and I don't know them..!
I live and I die daily, trying to share my doubts, questions,
insecurity, my understanding of beauty and some values which
make our life worth living - but who will understand my calls..?
I am "Anonymous" to myself - very often I do not understand my
own teaching, very often I feel as an alien living within me..!
All people who will see this work of ours called "Anonymous"
are anonymous to us, but there is a very small chance that
the honesty with which this work was created and with which it
will be performed, might bring us to a place in which we can
understand each other on a level which is not ruled by our daily
problems, but on levels which defy any pragmatic explanation...!
I have made this piece for two extraordinary female performers
- Sabine and Cora - who have decisively influenced my under-
standing of my work as a choreographer and as a human being.
Jiří Kylián - The Hague, July 22, 2013
