Audience Survey, 2011

performance, ‘Rehearsing Collectivity: Choreography Beyond Dance’, Tanzfabrik, Berlin

curated by Elena Basteri, Emanuele Guidi and Elisa Ricci

Audience Survey is a piece that I performed at several academic conferences during 2011. From behind a lectern I ask the audience yes/no questions for around fifteen minutes, exploring social and political behaviour. The performance is structured as a game, but the format is a combination of a psychological assessment (such as the HAM-D test), and a market research questionnaire. The aim is to make visible the ‘normal’ patterns of beliefs and conduct within this particular crowd. It is a means of provoking the audience to question my authority, as the one holding the power in this situation, and consider how their singular identities are constructed in relation to the group.