Lesson against the Freeze
[…] the jest made in humour is not the essential; it has only the value of a demonstration. The principal thing is the intention which humour fulfils […]. Its meaning is: ‘Look here! This is all that this seemingly dangerous world amounts to. Child’s play – the very thing to jest about!’
– Sigmund Freud, “Humour”, in: Collected Papers, vol. 5, p. 220
“Did you do your homework?” The question catches me off guard. “No, of course not”, is my first thought. Another way of looking at it would be to think that you haven’t been given a homework assignment because you yourself are the homework, Krõõt Juurak suggests. I’m caught off guard once more because there is an unresolvable quality to this statement. And if it wasn’t for the first signs of Juurak’s humour showing, the door wouldn’t just be open a crack, but thrown wide open to despair.
The (black)board is a flipchart, and the first item on it is: Therapy. “I am the analysand”, Juurak says. But we are about to be disabused of that notion – after all, the performance is called Lesson. We are right in the middle of it – not so much when we are actually asked to take a stand, to speak up. Rather, right in the middle is where we cannot immediately take a stand and where we can no longer follow the lettering on the board, cannot see the outrageous things that have been written there. Later, it will say “Unknown”. But for the moment, we are on the same side as Krõõt Juurak – where the lights are off. Juurak is somewhere among us, moving about. And there is something uncanny moving among us – it/the id stirs within us; something gets close, takes up space and flashes up. Sigmund Freud once described such an encounter in a letter as an encounter with the unknown in an Inverness coat, whose face he could not see clearly. The stranger among us. And, all of a sudden, we find ourselves where the subconscious and the subconscious – that of the other and our own – wish each other good night, good morning and sweet dreams.
Krõõt Juurak shows us what happens in the theatre. How an encounter between the subconscious and the subconscious – that of the performer and that of the audience – suddenly spark off what we experience as a result. Juurak shows us this, teaches us this and at the same time lets us experience it.
It would be easy to actually get caught and tangled up in the uncanny, if it wasn’t for the humour. In the place where Krõõt Juurak provides deep insights yet again – and, yet again, not only into themself – but where we don’t have to dwell. The lubricant we are being offered while Juurak rubs chalk on the dancing shoes is humour that makes the uncertain and uncanny stand in the corner. And from there, it’s welcome to join us in watching Juurak dance Tango Argentino – Krõõt with Krõõt; but we’re almost whirling along, even though we are being put off until later: “I will show you how to turn, but you can do that later at home.”
What sort of homework are you given after a piece like this? Especially considering that Krõõt Juurak may want to spare us (if you choose to believe so). “Dream a lot and tell strangers about your dreams – blurt them out.”
We could narrate the piece by way of the resistance that is directed against “wanting to understand”. The resistance that always wants to bring the uncanny to its knees and refuses to see what lies behind the “ochos” (dance figures) that are being drawn. Where Juurak says: “One of my greatest fears is the freeze”, the moment when apparently nothing is under control, nothing works anymore. This, however, is being savoured, displayed to the others: “I hold it. As an example for the others. So they can learn from it.” Juurak moves the “freeze”, it becomes mobile and moves from the self to the others. Let them deal with the “freeze”! There are so many dance figures in Tango Argentino. If you were to make a mistake, you could still point to one of allegedly 400 figures. Everything would be under control again. So long, mistake, and whatever it might reveal!
But who would want to deal with the resistance in this piece?! Krõõt Juurak has it and us wrapped around the little toe, and we are allowed to sway along in time with the tango.
“It’s a game”, someone shouts from the audience. “Thank you for reminding us”, Juurak laughs, and we laugh along. Although…perhaps better not too loudly, better not to draw too much attention to yourself. Otherwise, it may be noticed that the didactic piece has been a success and that everyone leaves feeling that they haven’t been given any homework because they themselves are the homework.
Lisa Emanuely studied Sinology in Vienna and in the People’s Republic of China, then continued her studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and worked in the art and cultural sectors for a decade and a half before starting training as a psychoanalyst with the Vienna Psychoanalytical Association. She works at TAMAR (women’s and family counselling centre) and in her own practice.