Meytal Blanaru / Scottish Dance Theatre: Ray

Fuori Programma, a dance festival that for the last ten summers has enriched the cultural panorama in Rome, took place at the beginning of July. This year’s edition, titled ‘In-Canti’, offered a much-needed enchanting break from the challenges that currently face the performing arts community in Italy: disappointment, worry, and collective mobilisations triggered by the allocation of the Italian National Fund for Live Performance, announced during the same period. In this climate, Fuori Programma featured an array of artists from Italy and abroad, among them Meytal Blanaru with her 2022 work Ray. Commissioned and performed by Scottish Dance Theatre, Ray reflects the mission of the UK-based dance company that is centred around the creation of accessible work through community making.

The open-air version of Ray unfolded under the natural and relaxing light of the sunset, uniting performers and audience alike in a process of enhancing human connection and togetherness. As the audience members took their seats around the raised platform, they read a welcoming message on a placard and encountered friendly performers who greeted them. On the stage, trust games alternated collective grooving and shaking; a tight hug was met with pushing against each other. A woman with outstretched hands persistently jumped alone – how many times does a movement need to be repeated to be registered by her peers as an invitation to respond, to how many different variations a movement repetition may lead? A man ran with closed eyes towards the sound of his own name being called – at first by the members of the company, then towards the calls of audience members who began responding to the game.

Ray feels vivid thanks to the performers’ alertness and softness, playfulness and vulnerability – all necessary qualities that allow action to emerge patiently and with no rush. The audience is gently, yet insistently, invited to transition from watching to participating in a process that culminates with stepping onto the stage, sitting among the performers and fellow spectators, engaging in direct eye contact with strangers, and exchanging unexpected, perhaps even excessive smiles. Premiered during the Covid-19 period, Ray reflects the human need for proximity and face-to-face connection, evoking the feeling of an afternoon picnic under the open sky where human interaction is the only food to feed the soul and the spirit.