Imagination and Play at the heart of de Stilte’s “Flying Cow”
By Thembela Sibiya
Today (2 September) I got to indulge in JOMBA!’s “For Youth Focus” at Durban’s Stable Theatre. Netherlands-based company “de Stilte” performed their made-for-younger-audiences piece: “Flying Cow”. The work explores imagination and play through dance and is choreographed by Jack Timmermans and performed by dancers Gianmarco Stefanelli, Chiara Aldorisio and Pilvi Kuronen.
”Flying Cow” explores two girls on the playground, fighting for a boy’s attention. The costumes designed by Joost van Wijme with feathered shoulders, give off the impression of small chicks. The dancers move like baby chicks with their playful body movement.
Exploring how children play together, one of the dancers plays with rolling eggs, on stage — he tries to catch and put them into the little cages. The sound of a cricket is heard in the background, and a cow moos from time to time. He plays with an egg as he pretends to swallow it, then poops it back into the bucket then picking it up and putting it inside a cage that is placed downstage. He proceeds to put his head inside the bucket, pretending to be a cow, an airplane, and even a car. The two girls often transition into old women who pick up the bucket, moving it around the stage, removing the eggs from the cages and putting them into the bucket, before exiting the stage.
As the boy is playing, the two girls join him, and they start fighting for his attention. A dancer exits the stage, when she returns, she tries again to grab the boy’s attention but fails. A cow structure made from metal pipes emerges from the right wing, with the breast made from elastic hand glove. The boy pumps the breast to make it more believable. The bucket is again used to milk the cow. The three children continue to play on stage using their imaginations, creating a tangible performance for the young audience.
”Flying Cow” is a journey into the imagination that explores how children play together, trying to outdo and impress each other, it’s an exploration of youth on the playground and where relationships are forged.
