It was an astounding way to deliver a message.
Bodies constantly hurled through the air, spinning and tumbling to fall into strong waiting arms. Sometimes there might be three 'creatures' each made up of three individuals standing one on another's shoulders. Sometimes the 'organism' was made up of three platforms, layered one on top of the other, sandwiched between human forms successively bearing the weight of their colleagues. Seemingly perfectly synchronised, they flew, balanced, walked, danced, and even swapped places- sometimes those on top of another shoulders, sometimes those below.
"The trust!," my companion exclaimed. "The trust is amazing!"
Part of the Festival of Perth, this was Compagnie XY presenting their indefinable show 'Il n'est pas encore minuit' (It's not yet midnight). Part theatre, part dance, part circus and certainly all acrobatics and artistry, the show was the result of collaborative training over a year and a half and then a mere four months to create as a collective.
At the endow the performance one member told a story. Someone asked them if they really built a tower of bodies using three platforms. "Yes" , came the reply, "But we do something much harder - we all agree!"
Companie XY tell us in their program they achieve their spectacular results through training, creating and living together as a collective.
They describe themselves as: 'a group of individuals sharing our differences, fears and hopes, cooperating with trust and care towards each other to foster the emergence of something great than we could achieve on our own'.
What a terrific goal for every organisation and every workplace. First step - build the trust. It's not yet midnight!