Oriental dance, Iacopo, Favelli Sicilia, Mano, Zizejk?, Science Fiction, Dialoghi, La Danse, Zombies Text, Zombies, Favelli Sicilia 1, Science Fiction 1, La Danse, Dialoghi, Marten, Cristina, Favelli Sicilia 2, Animali, Ventaglio, Vietnam, Cardioscrittura Favelli, Elba, Dialoghi, Politic, Rivoluzione, Robert, No Tengo Dinero 100, Moshe Dajan

Dialoghi

He says: There is currently a blurring or overlap between lifestyle/cognitive or experience capitalism and the kind of scenarios and offers once generated exclusively by the space of art. Where once we pitched the live arts especially against capital - championing their ephemerality, their capacity for individualisation and their interest in the generative possibilities of social network and encounter, now these things, these interests – once radical – are the meat and potatoes of public facing capitalism. You say - You are everywhere invited to participate? He says: Yes precisely. But there is a problem in the terms of the offer. The elevator pings. As if ushering you to bed, as if asking you, please to step out of this strange space but before you can leave the night porter pauses then says: In the offer there is an insistence on, or pull towards, a definition of community as non-conflict – a pull towards consensus and affirmation rather than dispute. That is capitals need. Its demand, its move - to assert the possibility of endless growth and acquisition. Yes, you say. He says: Capitals’ continuing expansion and extension into the social sphere sells us ourselves back to ourselves, diverting us from the real questions about what we lack or about the things we have but do not need. We are not to argue over priorities. Or to question our own or others certainties, narratives, truths. Community (the kind bought and sold out there in the marketplace), must, in other words, cohere. And we must belong. You say - There is a pull there though - it is great, isn’t it, to be together? He says: Yes. But we need to think also about what keeps us apart. And we need to remember that belonging, properly, cannot be purchased. Participation and belonging are not objects – they are not things which can be achieved solidly or owned concretely – they cannot be acquired, they are processes which need to be worked at, lived in and through… processes which along with togetherness, sharing and mutuality also involve difficulty, dissent, and disagreement, hard work, uncertainty, doubt and dispute. They flow. They alter. They contradict. They involve tension and change. Yes. You say. Or maybe. He says: A promise of belonging that does not insist on (acknowledge, offer or make space for) process, dispute and dissent is basically a false promise – an offer of supposed benefits without the true troubles, responsibilities and relations implied by those terms. Yes, you say. Or no. Or maybe. The elevator pings again and you take it. In the morning you call reception. The Night Porter answers, but is leaving, heading out to his day job at another hotel. You say wait, wait a moment; these are the Festivals of which I have been dreaming. A Festival Of Slow Time A Festival Of Mischief A Festival Of Madness A Festival Of Forgetting A Festival Of Freedom A Festival Of War A Festival Of Summer & Winter A Festival Of Lies A Festival Of The Predictably Unpredictable A Festival Of Hope A Festival of Intransigence A Festival of Free Fall A Festival of Revolution A Festival of Coincidences A Festival of Second Chances A Festival of Speaking in Tongues A Festival of Ghost Ships A Festival of Nonesense A Festival of Heartbreak A Festival of Statutory Requirements A Festival of Shivering A Festival of Shimmering A Festival Of Private Conversations A Festival Of The Never Seen Before A Festival Of Booze A Festival of Festivity A Festival Of Memory A Festival Of Barking Dogs A Festival Of The Unknown A Festival Of The Inevitable A Festival of Magic A Festival of Idiots A Festival of Bad Driving A Festival of Bald Men A Festival Of Emptiness A Festival Of Youth A Festival Of Europe A Festival Of Afterwards A Festival of Before A Festival of In-Between A Festival of Circular Arguments A Festival of Love A Festival Of Falling A Festival Of Night Terror A Festival Of Anti-Terror A Festival Of Sleeping Audiences A Festival Of Ambience A Festival Of Sponsors A Festival Of Sponsors-Shit A Festival Of Trepidation A Festival Of Stasis A Festival Of The Known A Festival Of The Dismal A Festival Of Screaming A Festival of Bad Jokes A Festival Of The Dangerous A Festival Of Flesh A Festival Of Heat A Festival Of Experimental Surgery A Festival Of Gunshots A Festival Of Colonies A Festival of Car Alarms A Festival Of Oppression A Festival Of Champagne A Festival Of Spring A Festival Of Water A Festival Of Fire A Festival Of Fracture A Festival Of Fault Lines A Festival Of Subterfuge A Festival of Forgery A Festival of Games A Festival of Data A Festival of Dada A Festival of Mazes A Festival of Robots A Festival of Solutions A Festival of Waiting A Festival of Impatience A Festival of Age A Festival of the Almost Impossible A Festival of the Also-Rans A Festival of the Borrowed A Festival of the Dead A Festival of Explosions A Festival of Implosions A Festival of Industry A Festival of the Wrong Things A Festival of Bad Timing A Festival of Goodbyes A Festival of Graffiti A Festival of Whispers A Festival of Dreams A Festival of Wasteground A Festival of Smoke & Mirrors A Festival of Ice A Festival of Public Laughter A Festival Of Shit & Piss A Festival of Shadows A Festival Of Blood Tests A Festival Of Rules A Festival Of Waste A Festival of Secrets A Festival Without Sense A Festival Without Artists A Festival Without Programmers A Festival Without Audience A Festival Without Programme A Festival Without Venues A Festival Without Borders A Festival Without End Tim Etchells. Sheffield, February, 2012. Commissioned by LIFT and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation for The Future of Festivals Symposium February 2012.

La Danse