T.R.A.S.H.: "To File for Chapter 11"

Anticipation is an odd creature, especially when it is fuelled by the press. Opinions take root in one’s mind, colouring all that one sees. In this mood of expectation, I attended a performance of T.R.A.S.H., a dance group which has been described by the national press as “punk,” “aggressive” and “violent.” Before the performance began I sat in the theatre’s café and contemplated the performance flyer: “To File for Chapter 11 … chaotic … explosive … confusion … instinct … frenetic.”  I braced myself for a heavy evening.

“To File for Chapter 11” is a work that contains a number of meanings. At its core lies the realization that the identity of mankind is divided, that the “I” we all speak of is a fractured mirror. The violence or aggression that so many claim to witness in the dances of T.R.A.S.H. is the physical expression of a mind frustrated by its own lack of a stable identity. God is dead here: appeals are choked, consciousness is enraged. The body represents the final damaged frontier.

Each dancer engages with the cacophony of voices within him, posturing, confessing, muttering, screaming, trying to grasp something concrete which might afford peace. Kristel van Issum, main ...