Meet – An intimate performative encounter format

Abstract

In 2018 Christine Gaigg made a series of performances called Meet, produced by Tanzquartier Wien and ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival. Meet starts out as a solo performance yet right away also focuses on the proximity between the audience, of which a maximum of twelve are allowed in each session. In the form of a performative, laboratory-like installation, Meet gives participants the opportunity to overcome inhibitions and interact with the performer and each other in the safe space of the theatre. Meet premiered in spring 2018, after the launch of #MeToo but before the covid pandemic. The potential for intimate physical connections was written into the concept, as was the ability to refuse such contact if one wished. The lab provided a place where issues of consent could be safely explored and practiced. The essay evolves from the description of some of these Meet sessions as a mixture of theatre and psychodrama and addresses directly articulated desires, subliminal and unspoken longings, confessed fears and anxieties as well as self-aware stories. In the realm of the erotic and sexual, the encounter is the first point at which moments can unfold that "ignite" participants in unusual ways. The essay explores issues such as the relationship between freedoms and regulations for encounters in public spaces and the differences between generations in relation to the status of the erotic itself, and does so through the question that constantly arises for Meet Performance participants: Do I trust myself in an encounter? What constitutes the magical moment of an encounter?