Used in photography and film, the term close-up is described as an effect or tool to intensify the content. The sensation originates in the interaction between the image or film take and the real world of the viewer. The close-up effect is a reflection of an interpersonal situation which is very close spatially or emotionally. In a sense, the spectator enters into the realm of the viewed actor’s intimate space, which in normal conditions would be impossible.
The performance of Close-up is a specific reflection on the subject of a particular stage presence. Dancers, who have a small square stage at their disposal, interact with the audience at very close range. In effect, the whole constitutes an intimate meeting between the viewer and the performer. To a large degree, the choreography is based on minimalist actions of the body somewhere between abstraction and relatively concrete emotional states. Instead of presenting or representing anything, dancers are trying “to be” and “to live” on stage, while still performing their tasks in front of the audience.
The audience can be confronted with something of personal or private nature. Someone may try to enter into somebody else’s private space in order to become intimate. Spectators can only be observers, but the boundary between passive and active observation can at times be unclear. Sometimes, audiences and dancers can be placed close in space; they can hear each other’s breath. One element can be common both in positive moments of closeness, and in those that make one seethe: people’s closeness can be stimulating.