Men Will Be Boys: Bromance and Boundaries in ‘Still Standing You’ (via FAB Magazine)

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When two straight male friends get physical to show their feeling for each other, it could be as tender as first love or as insidious as a couple of cranky fogies. Life is a balance for Belgian dancer, Pieter Ampe, and Portugal’s Guilherme Garrido. In their newest collaboration, they explore through the use of their bodies the relationship between two men. A contemporary dance piece that tests and crosses their own personal boundaries, Still Standing You shows the complexities of man-on-man action while wearing clothes and when clothes are no longer in the way. Fab Magazine sits down with Pieter Ampe to discuss man love.

Fab: Are you bromantic off stage with Ghilherme?

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Pieter Ampe: We’re like an old married couple (laughs) being very hard on each other sometimes and other times very generous. Two years ago, we did an improvised trip to Provincetown in Cape Cod, where Gui “lost” his wallet at a strip joint we stopped at. It was in a way a romantic trip, and the next day we went to a transvestite party for an AIDS benefit. It’s great to have these experiences with him. I even took a picture of him lying down on the beach with an American flag sticking out of his ass.

Can you stand each other after all these years working together?

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The title is pretty accurate. It is a cynical reference to standing up, standing each other and still supporting you. Can we still stand each other after so many years? We have to because we work together.

You sometimes get very homoerotic . . .

Being gay or straight is not really an issue. It is very curious and unbound like young boys. Being 10-0yrs-old is always there somewhere in men. You can always make fun. It’s when you start getting afraid of homosexuality that you lose this humour and intimacy with each other. In Morocco, men can walk around hand in hand, but once you speak about homosexuality, they’ll be very upset. I don’t know how you can split one thing from the other. I don’t need to define my identity so hard, heterosexual or not.

What was a hard personal border to cross as a performer?

I broke the border with nudity. I was always the kid that liked to take off his trousers, but I’d get into a more embarrassed state. And then I went to see a show with five people who all end up naked on stage. You watch men and women exploring their bodies in a way. I was very comfortable seeing the beauty of it. I was so intrigued that I realized a body is just a body and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s not that I want to be an ambassador for nudism, but now I have no issues with it.

Still Standing You – Pieter Ampe & Guilherme Garrido / CAMPO from CAMPO on Vimeo.

So, being naked (for a of the time) in Still Standing You must have come naturally?

When we first came together, Gui asked if I could take of my clothes for this. I still had a bit of a border with whether I wanted to perform naked, will it be ok if my family sees it. For a day, I struggled with it but it clicked and I decided the work was for me and not my grandmother. I’m not embarrassed about it. I’m sometimes more embarrassed about my beard when I show up at a family party.

This is not an ordinary contemporary dance piece . . .

Our language is very organic, very playful and theatrical. It is unique. You can be very surprised by what we do. It’s not the common way of doing dance or theatre. It is a very physical piece with a strong research on how physical we can experiment. It’s the most dance-y piece that I’ve ever worked on.

You are from Belgium, Gui is from Portugal. Did you have any issues coming from different cultural backgrounds?

It is definitely true that you have the whole Mediteranean way with Gui, and in Belgium, Flemish men would rather have the handshake. I generally kiss people, but when I’m with my family or something, it sometimes gets awkward when I kiss an uncle or cousin. That’s where my being an open person easily breaks that barrier with someone like Gui. Being intimate and impulsive are very much in Gui’s nature, and on the other hand I push for a slower contact that can go far. After a few performances during our first months, we were trashing each other so hard that the people with us on tour couldn’t even watch it. We realized we definitely had to find a softer energy. Now we have this playful equilibrium with each other.

What kinds of reactions have you received while touring the show?

It’s always different. We had very warm reception in Norway, and one time in Portugal a very cold reaction. There are a lot of men and some women that say they don’t want to see it because we’re going to be naked. If the audience can sit down and leave behind what they have to deal with in their daily lives, they can connect with the piece and project it back to their own lives.

FAB MAGAZINE

Still Standing Youruns 8pm, April 24, 26 and 27 at Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Enwave Theatre, 231 Queens Quay W. $15–35. harbourfrontcentre.com

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11 COMMENTS

  1. what the hell is a “straight” man – the male of the species is hard-encoded for contact – be it with a female or male – hence the homoerotica displayed in sports and other male involvement – men can relate better with men because of the genetic and biological wiring that makes them different from the female gender – get over the sterotypes and start talking science you boneheads…

  2. If that is considered entertainment then some idiots must be paying money to see these talentless morons, though this does not surprise me. I guess some people will do anything these days to continue collecting benefits from their respective governments – go and get a real job or career guys and take some diction lessons, it is clear they are needed after that attempt at an interview

  3. Wow Sharp-9999…. so these guys from Portugal and Belguim ( English most likely not first language )need English diction lessons ????? how many languages are you proficient in SHARP ????
    don’t sound too sharp to me !!!!!!!!
    why do gay guys have to come out with this competitive bitchy shit so often ?? growing up different and insecure ??? then “we gays” go and trash anything else different…. Experimental dance / art opens up lots of pathways for all of society to express itself… celebrating difference isa good thing for all people… these “straight ” dudes have balls to go out and express themselves.good on them.

  4. all the commentary seems to be based in homophobia ! ??
    why is there is continual obsessions with trying to draw a line between “straight” and “gay” ?
    It does not exist !!

    “Borders” about men touching each other, sexually or otherwise, are culturally invented —- biologically, they do not exist , and research after research over at least the last 60 years has confirmed again and again that inherent sexual orientation lies on a continuum, with a very small % of 100% gay and an equally small % of 100% straight at either end, the vast majority of the population (men and women) are in the bisexual continuum in between.

    Surprised? Hardly? Some of the best actors that have portrayed “gay” roles, have been brilliant, engaging convincingly in passionate m-m sex scenes ….

    So the men in some countries hold hands and display affection in public, and they’re NOT gay? OMG!!!??? Have you ever watched a mens football game ?

    If affectionate touching was a “sign” of the dreaded homo-sexuality, then ALL footballers would have to identify as gay!

    I think this “dance”, “play” , or whatever it is supposed to be is pathetic, WHAT is it trying to prove? EXACTLY what is it trying to show? Apart from the fact that sexuality stereotypes are alive and well in contemporary Dance!!! HOW SAD~

  5. Sharp 9999, I could not have said it better myself. You are a man of distinction and class and I salute you.

    Honestly, if this type of fake performance even had a place here, it wouldn’t have killed them to find a clip with some actually attractive men. I mean really, honestly. The streets are full of ordinary and sub-ordinary looking men. Why must someone try and curate these people for a community which is focused on beauty?

  6. I have to admit I rarely “get” interpretive dancing as an art form..this is no exception. The good thing here, as all art is supposed to do, is to make you think. Both Spiritman and Ozzietop have made good observations. I can be much more tactile with my European friends regardless of orientation. Here, Christian based homophobia still determines public customs and viewpoints. Even oh-so-liberal Hollywood Studios, actors, directors, etc.., for all their lip service are still largely homophobic…just more subtle about it. Someday, I wish, people will just see fellow people as Dr. King hoped…there’s still work to do.

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