Goth clockwork doll performance/dance

Lisa sez, "Gothla, a very cool gothic bellydance event over the weekend had this showstopper; a broken clockwork doll looking for repair/ love? I dunno but it was the only time the entire building was rapt with attention and totally still."

That is one talented gothy clockwork lady in big chunky shoes.

Clockwork Couture presents Elysium Dance Theatre at Gothla US 2009 (Thanks, Lisa!)

[#1 posted by bogartnoir, March 9, 2009 4:28 PM]

i'm in love with whatever song starts at 4:00 in. anybody know?

[#2 posted by ShadowDancer, March 9, 2009 4:29 PM]

She is definitely full of awesome! ooooo, gotta I send her the link to this.

Elayssa and her Elysium Dance Theatre do some very incredibly choreographed dances in the LA area.

I am excited to see how much notice she is getting for this performance. She is also in a writeup in LA Weekly.

[#3 posted by lizziegolightly, March 9, 2009 4:37 PM]

@ #1 The song is "Peach, Plum, Pear" by Joanna Newsom.

[#4 posted by Brother Provisional, March 9, 2009 4:42 PM]

Not to belittle this performance, but I'm glad that my exodus from gothdom precluded the whole corset and tutu aesthetic. Its fine. I have no problem with tiny hats and other faux Victorian trappings. I respect this idiom, but at the same time find this sort of thing completely anathema to the moody world of trenchcoats, dead flowers, chronic depression and bad poetry that I so enjoyed in my youth. To each his own. I'm off to find a Peter Murphy chaser.

@#1. "Peach, Plum, Pear" by Joanna Newsom.

[#5 posted by yonderboy, March 9, 2009 4:48 PM]

@bogartnoir, that song is "Peach, Plum Pear" by the bewitchingly brilliant Joanna Newsom.

[#6 posted by t3knomanser, March 9, 2009 4:55 PM]

I dunno. The fact that the clockwork girl ever emoted killed it for me. Ironically, human expressions destroyed any emotional content of the piece.

[#7 posted by Tenn, March 9, 2009 5:22 PM]

Yeah, I would have been far more in love with the piece if there was no emoting by Clockwork girl. I mean- your body can't do the moves you want it to, but your face can? Hmph.

Reminded me of this, though: http://arenyth.deviantart.com/art/The-Clocktower-83212811

[#8 posted by Tenn, March 9, 2009 5:23 PM]

& Ref all of you who IDed the song;

THANKS.

[#9 posted by cloren, March 9, 2009 5:45 PM]

love this- and speaking of Joanna Newsom, when is BBtv going to interview her?

[#10 posted by Paul Dreyer, March 9, 2009 5:49 PM]

A lovely performancy. Wish I knew what a performancy was.

[#11 posted by Anonymous, March 9, 2009 6:05 PM]

Hey there, it's your clockwork girl, Elayssa. :-)

It's an honor to be on boing boing!

Thanks for the comments! I even appreciate the ones about wishing I didn't emote! I actually played with that and found that without human expression in the face, no one cared about how the character felt no matter how I moved - which was the entire point of the dance. This clockwork girl was made to be a dancing automaton who falls into disrepair. She was created in the image of a wind up ballerina doll who in fact wears a tutu and corset. *winks

In this video the camera misses much of what the clockwork girl is doing once the other girls show up. Too bad!

Thank you again!

Elayssa
Director, Elysium Dance Theatre
www.ElysiumDanceTheatre.com

[#12 posted by membrain, March 9, 2009 6:10 PM]

Reminds me of Caprica-Six.

[#13 posted by lo6an, March 9, 2009 6:12 PM]

Reminds me of the incredible gothic clockwork scene in "Mirror Mask" (Designed by Dave Mckean)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz8-7JsFD_g

[#14 posted by Spikeles, March 9, 2009 6:30 PM]

Is this some sort of tribute to Metropolis?

[#15 posted by hohum, March 9, 2009 6:43 PM]

@1, I'm in love with Ms. Newsom as well. Her harpings make me want to hug myself.

[#16 posted by Anonymous, March 9, 2009 7:02 PM]

Checkout how beautifully one of the dancers "borrows" another dancer's scarf after dropping her own. Starts at 5:20 minutes into the video.

[#17 posted by Stevezilla, March 9, 2009 7:19 PM]

Very nice! That was pretty cool!

[#18 posted by Willirubin, March 9, 2009 7:34 PM]

that was delightful.

[#19 posted by El Stinko, March 9, 2009 8:10 PM]

I think I would have liked it better if the camera man hadn't kept zooming in and out and in and out and in and out... always too far in both directions. Here's she is dwarfed by curtains. Here's her shoes... here's the curtains.. oh there she is over there... now let's show her shoulder.

[#20 posted by redhawk2007, March 9, 2009 9:20 PM]

Interesting piece. Anyone know the name of the tune on the music box?

[#21 posted by Alexandre Van de Sande, March 9, 2009 9:48 PM]

for the artist: thanks.
I am finishing my crappy 17hour long work day on crappy things. You made me smile and made my day better.

I guess that's art for you.

[#22 posted by japroach, March 9, 2009 11:30 PM]

Anyone else think there were some stray cats and dogs hiding in the audience?

[#23 posted by overunger, March 10, 2009 2:43 AM]

See? The Singularity can be a nice thing. We can make nice with the machines . Maybe Skynet and 01 will like Joanna Newsom.

[#24 posted by Blaatann, March 10, 2009 3:50 AM]

That was absolutely wonderfull..! I really loved the way the clockwork girl "poured her heart out" at the other women :) Beautiful.

Made me think of Dresden Dolls "Coin-operated boy", which unfortunately is no loger available on youtube, but can be found here.

[#25 posted by planettom, March 10, 2009 3:59 AM]

Best clockwork doll since Truly Scrumptious in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG.

[#26 posted by Anonymous, March 10, 2009 4:22 AM]

Question: why was the audience talking so much? Rather than being "rapt with attention," I found them to be extremely loud — to the point of being downright insulting.

[#27 posted by pAULbOWEN, March 10, 2009 6:44 AM]

All of a sudden I started crying. Beautiful work Elayssa, thank you.

Saw Joanna Newsom at Green Man 2007. About three songs in my posh friend Emma and I exchanged quizzical glances and she drawled "Well, it's just Kate Bush with a bloody great thing between her legs isn't it darling?" Magic moment.

[#28 posted by 0xdeadbeef, March 10, 2009 6:55 AM]

Am I the only one particularly annoyed with how her movements weren't well synchronized with the mechanical sounds? Perhaps I demand too much realism in my sexy robot simulacra.

[#29 posted by Anonymous, March 10, 2009 8:03 AM]

Intriguing performance. Reminded me of Alsatia in 'Toys.'

[#30 posted by MrFrankenstein, March 10, 2009 9:32 AM]

Lovely stuff. Good to hear from the artist. I was also curious about the 'emote' vs 'no-emotion' - I guess the no-emotion route does require a teeth-gritted leap of faith in the audience to 'get it,' not a guaranteed thing in the US.

Would love to have seen that on a 'real' stage - not what looks like a school auditorium - without the kitsch of folded curtains behind it, and swathed in proper stage light.

Very impressive work. And yes, best clockwork-doll I've seen since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang :)

[#31 posted by erissian, March 10, 2009 10:33 AM]

#16: Pretty slick. I missed that entirely :)

[#32 posted by Sutra, March 10, 2009 10:59 AM]

Very awesome! Even more awesome was that I was actually listening to Joanna Newsom before I paused it to watch this.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeird

[#33 posted by Anonymous, March 10, 2009 11:05 AM]

JSYK, there was a declared theme to this Gothla, which was "SteamPunk" This was one of the few performances there that took that theme and ran with it, and how. It's more steampunk than goth. and super expressive.

[#34 posted by Anonymous, March 10, 2009 12:55 PM]

The ambiance reminds me of "Desert" by Emilie Simon, you might want to check it out :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdOAfHPvbf8

And the original in french :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI_nkXUpvJk

[#35 posted by Roast Beef, March 10, 2009 5:14 PM]

#20, the music box plays the adagio from Swan Lake.

I had skipped this ("too long!") but am glad I came back to it. Elyssa's mastery of her form is evident in every moment of movement. Hooray for dance!

[#36 posted by Anonymous, March 10, 2009 6:46 PM]

thank you elayssa..... her gesture and grace brings a smile to the heart.. a timeless and seemingly effortless granduer that transcends the moments ineffably in the arms of sutlety & soliloquy reflected by the art of joy.

:)

[#37 posted by ninnyfriedcheez, March 10, 2009 8:38 PM]

Thank you for that! Made me cry too... mysteriously moving. There's some archetype thing at work there...

[#38 posted by Anonymous, March 12, 2009 2:59 PM]

Hi it's Elayssa again -

If I may be permitted some shameless promotion: A DVD is available of the full performance in a black box theatre with real lighting even! (and there are other amazing performances too!)

Check out www.eemed.com

Thank you so much everyone for your comments!

Elayssa
Director, Elysium Dance Theatre
www.elysiumdancetheatre.com

[#39 posted by Anonymous, April 6, 2009 1:33 PM]

Elayssa is without a doubt one of the most amazing performers working today... if not THE most amazing (as I believe). I've seen her on small stages and large ones and her spirit shines through every time leaving me in awe and grateful that there is such beauty in the world!