Fawn
Why do we seek to please? And how?
Complimenting, flattering, being obedient, doing something really well whilst remaining humble.
Fawn considers the act of pleasing as an instinctive response to fear, threat and failure.
As a solo work, Fawn attempts to make sense of Lizzie’s ‘pleaser’ tendencies.
The work draws parallels between the relationship of pleasing others, pleasing an audience and pleasing yourself, specifically through the lens of being a female dancer.
Are they simultaneously possible?
There are microphones, Tina Turner and a Great Red Rug.
Through making Fawn, Lizzie is now, conversely, less of a ‘pleaser’.
Choreographer + Performer: Lizzie Klotz
Dramaturg: Rosa Postlethwaite
Composer: Roma Yagnik
Music: (They Long To Be) Close To You – The Carpenters
One – A Chorus Line
Private Dancer – Tina Turner
Lighting Designer: Michael Morgan
Co-producer: Morag Iles
Photographer: Camilla Greenwell
Illustrator: Erin McGrath
20 minutes, 2018
“Fawn was a vaudevillian riot of meta moments and delicious visual comedy (watch closely for the Keaton-esque bit with the microphones), a sticky candy wrapper encasing a sledgehammer of a point about female social performance in the world today.”
“Klotz has created a miniature that is both succinct and subtle with a generous element of sass that sheds light on the vagaries of our emotional dependency.”
“Unexpected, clever, funny and unnerving.”
“It’s a fascinating piece, complex and thought-provoking, and was greeted ... with huge enthusiasm from the audience.”
Fawn was commissioned by The Place and supported by Northumberland County Council, Dance City, Wellcome Collection, ARC and Yorkshire Dance, using public funding by Arts Council England.