Where to sit? The view from the audience

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I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was going to say something about where to sit to watch dance.  This is one of those topics that I will confess I have changed my mind about several times over the years.  I guess the truth is that you need to try out different locations until you find what you like and don’t like, and to keep in mind that theatres are all different, so what works in one might not be so good in another.  Always go for the best you can afford in any case.  There is nothing, however, that can be done about predicting who is going to sit in front of you (or indeed, behind you)!

In a traditional theatre, the first issue to address is stalls, circle or upper circle.  There was a period where I always sat in the stalls, as I wanted to be able to closely watch the feet and to be able to see the details of what was going on.  A friend of mine convinced me of the joys of sitting upstairs, from where you can see the patterns and shapes more clearly, and so for several years I always went for the circle or upper circle.  Well, here we have to consider a number of things.  Firstly, too far ‘up in the Gods’ and you probably won’t see anything (for example, I once went to see a Polish company in a piece that featured nudity, and I was so far back I couldn’t tell who were the men and who were the women…well, almost!).  Secondly, in some theatres like Gamle Scene in Copenhagen, there are many seats with an obscured view in the upper parts of the theatre.  If you suffer from vertigo, then some upper circle seats are really not for you (again, some of Gamle Scene).  More modern theatres such as the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh and the Opera House in Copenhagen have good seating upstairs, though watch out as in some big theatres, you will feel you are a long way from the stage and can feel a bit detached from the performance. 

The last two pieces I have seen have been in the stalls, and I have regained my fondness for that place in the theatre.  The front stalls in particular are a great place to sit.  For example, when I saw the Dance Theatre of Wuppertal’s ‘Rite of Spring’, I was so close I could smell the earth on the stage the dancers were performing upon.  However, I was glad I was upstairs when I saw Nureyev in ‘Prodigal Son’, the sweat trails on the stage would probably have been even worse close too!

This brings us to the type of performance space often used by contemporary companies, what I call the scaffolding and wobbly step type of seating.  This varies a lot from the good, such as I have experienced at The Tramway in Glasgow, to the sort where you wonder if you will end up falling through the seating during the performance.  It is best not to go for the front two or back two rows in my opinion if you don’t want to be part of the performance either by being too close or sitting right beside the people doing the lights.  It is particularly fun if the scaffolding is used as part of the performance, such as during a talk I once went to by Merce Cunningham which at one point included John Cage walking about underneath the seats, banging on the metal, creating rhythms for dance.

Finally, there are some venues that should not be used for dance, such as The Concert Hall in Tivoli, Copenhagen (which won’t stop be going to see Alvin Ailey there in September I may add).  It is also risky performing outside when in northern Europe, though sometimes it is glorious, when the sun is shining and the costumes billow in the wind.

So…my advice is experiment, get to know the theatre you are going to if possible, and keep your fingers crossed that there are only short people in front and no badly behaved children behind!

(Footnote – one of the most intriguing performances I have seen was Tim Rushton’s ‘Labyrinth’ where we as the audience walked around, almost interacting with the dancers, who danced in separate spaces.  That gave quite a different perspective of dance).