Inside out: Four dancers perform during a rehearsal of Rosalind, a rework of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It by UK dance group James Cousins Company, at Usmar Ismail Hall in South Jakarta on Oct. 25.

Four dancers in flesh-toned leotards interacted within, outside and with a large, square 3D frame placed at the center of a darkened stage.

Spotlights on both sides of the stage illuminated the cube with different colors and brightnesses to change it into various sets for the dance — a city of neon lights, a sanctuary in the forest or a hidden place inside the soul.

The contemporary ballet dance Rosalind was a rework of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It by UK dance group James Cousins Company, with a tweak on the female lead character. In the original story she has to dress like a man while hiding in Forest of Arden to escape persecution by her uncle, when she meets again with her lover Orlando, who cannot recognize her.

The unique collaboration with Korean dancers was staged in Jakarta on Oct. 25, the first ever performance outside Seoul, as part of the UK/ID Festival 2016 organized by the British Council. The dance was part of Shakespeare Lives, a yearlong global program of events and activities to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, where artists relive the author’s works.

In the hands of James Cousins, one of the most celebrated choreographers in the UK, the happy-ending romantic comedy turns into the impactful story of a soul search, starting from the moment Rosalind changes into men’s clothes.

“Reimagining one of Shakespeare’s iconic works was a challenge that immediately interested me. In recent years I have found myself on a path of reimagining existing narratives in my dance works and Shakespeare’s catalogue features some of the most loved and well-known stories in our culture,” Cousins said regarding what was behind the creation of Rosalind.

“This production isn’t about retelling the story in dance. Dance can however tell other stories. When words fail us, our physical language continues to speak; our bodies never stop communicating. I plan to harness this physicality and use it to go deep to the heart of the story, to reimagine it for today’s audiences.”

The rule-bound royal court and the free Forest of Arden were transferred to modern Seoul, which holds two contradictory settings. It’s a conservative society by day, but when the sun sets it becomes a wonderland where people can be whomever they want.

Performed for the first time in Seoul a week earlier, the dancers showed powerful movements in two acts that lasted for an hour. Playing Rosalind was UK-based Chihiro Kawasaki and three Korean dancers with global experience: Kim Seung-hyun, Kim Hee-jung and Cho In Ho.

The two female dancers and two male dancers exchanged clothes, from dresses to suits, and switched characters, intertwining until there were no boundaries between the female Rosalind and the male Rosalind, femininity and masculinity, the city and the forest.

Cousins said the original story had many layers of interest for him.

“The biggest draw is that it is a play about identity. The discovery of your true self. It explores and challenges our societies’ ingrained gender stereotypes and inequalities that have been governing our lives since Shakespeare’s day and that are still so strong in today’s world,” he said.

The dance company also performed in Solo, Central Java, for one show only and worked with students from participating universities and colleges to reinterpret As You Like It for contemporary Indonesia. Following that, the next stop on the tour was Bologna, Italy, on Nov. 2 and 3.

— JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
— Photo by JP/Jerry Adiguna

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