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Culture Dance

Still Standing You

STILL STANDING YOU choreographed and performed by Pieter Ampe and Guilherme Garrido (World Stage/CAMPO). At the Enwave Theatre (231 Queens Quay West). To April 27, 8 pm. $15-$35. 416-973-4000. See listing. Rating: NNN

Still Standing You is the I Love You Man of the performance art scene. Part clown show, part wrestling match, it’s a visceral, primal look at male competitiveness and bonding.

Produced by Belgium’s CAMPO Arts Centre, the show opens with a striking image: choreographer/performers Pieter Ampe and Guilherme Garrido are onstage, but Ampe is on his back with his legs up at a 90 degree angle and Garrido is sitting on the man’s shoes, chatting about their time in Toronto.

As Garrido’s talk goes on aimlessly, you can see Ampe’s face turning red and his legs start to wobble with the effort. And then finally they reach the breaking point and the piece proper begins. But that power dynamic – questions of who’s controlling whom, who’s on top – continue to crop up.

Things start out playfully, with the men reverting to pre-verbal, childlike games where they’re competing monsters. Off come their clothes in a display not of lust or titillation but of caveman one-upmanship as they take turns trying to throw each other onto the floor. The presence of Superman clothing – briefs for Ampe, socks for Garrido – gives you an indication of what themes they’re working out.

Once they’re both naked, and the initial shock has worn off – they twist each other’s foreskins (ouch), they bump chests while grunting out Eine Kleine Nachtmusk – the duo can then explore more fascinating physical territory.

At times they mould their bodies to each other like an unusual piece of sculpture. At other times they evoke religious iconography. In one comic sequence, Garrido, an upside-down Ampe clasped to his body, cavorts on the stage like a runway model.

Is it profound? Not really. But it’s an entertaining, novel way to spend an hour.

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