Deciding to try something a little bit different I went to a sneak peak of some modern dance yesterday afternoon. Not really knowing what I was getting myself in to, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience.
As part of the Dublin Dance Festival Catherine Young invited to take a first look at Ultima Thule, a discovery of the unconscious through dance.
When you look at old maps you often find sea dragons and other mystical monsters roaming the boarders of the undiscovered and unknown world. These unreachable spaces and far off lands are known as the Ultima Thule and often represents unattainable goals.
Inspired by this and Carl Jung’s Liber Novus (The Red Book) – the notebook in which Jung wrote down his fantasies, imaginations and visions – Catherine Young decided to look at unconscious movement, pushing beyond what bodies are trained to do to find what bodies want to do left unchecked.
By allowing her dancers to explore their unconsciousness, write down random thoughts and words, move freely, created shapes, motions and sounds Young has choreographed a unique new dance work.
And while you can still see (and hear) her love for African dance and yoga inspired dynamics, Ultima Thule pushes up against and passes by the known. The symbioses between movement, singing and percussion beats creates a very visceral experience, raw and primal and very intense.
So while I may not know much about dance, and I may be a novice to the world of modern movement, Ultima Thule made me think, and I believe that is what art is all about – no matter the form. And maybe I didn’t understand it all, or found some of it confusing, but I found beauty and inspiration between the steps.
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung
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