So now let’s take a look at how Dadaist ideas were presented to audiences in highly unconventional … well, I’m not even sure how to categorize these theatrical events . I suppose you’d just have to call them shows. These shows started in Zurich, in a place called the Cabaret Voltaire . The rejection of Classical Western art—well, you see this in the nature of what took place at the Cabaret Voltaire . They didn’t put on plays or operas there . What they did was throw out all conventions; they mixed everything and anything together. They would … it might start with somebody reading a poem, then somebody else playing an instrument, followed by a display of paintings, followed by somebody else chanting, followed by somebody else banging on a big drum, and someone dressed in a robot costume, uh, jumping up and down. So it’s not like a play … there’s no real plot development here, like you’d find in a traditional theatrical performance . The performers at the Cabaret Voltaire would also get the audience involved, which was extremely unusual. Think about a traditional play…the action’s self-contained. The actors act as if there’s no one watching, right? It’s like a world unto itself. Well, at the Cabaret Voltaire, audience members could get up on stage and dance or chant, or shout and sing from their seats . And every night would be different because there would be a different audience and a different set of acts and displays. So all this could get pretty chaotic: No barriers between the performers and the audience. And no barriers between kinds of art, either. Think about it. Poetry, paintings, music, dance … all on the same stage, and often at the same time! This is what the Dadaists had in mind when they set out to make art that reflected their own idea of reality. It didn’t make sense. But why should it?
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