(1:00) Figures in Extinction [1.0]. is the first part of a collaboration between Director Simon McBurney and Choreographer Crystal Pite, who worked together over four years to create three new works, each developed in response to the last.
Across continents, Simon and Crystal exchanged ideas reflecting on their fears and cautious hopes for the age we are living in, and how artists can meaningfully create in the face of mass destruction. Their process draws on a rich and surprising array of source materials, from the sound of ice caps melting and tree roots growing to the clarion calls of climate change deniers. Together they nurtured a new method of exchange, embracing uncertainty and looking for sparks in the darkness.
(1:27) The first work, 'Figures in Extinction' [1.0] premiered in The Hague in 2022 and was awarded a Zwaan (Swan) Award for the most impressive dance production at the 2022 Nederlandse Dansdagen. The second work, Figures in Extinction [2.0] 'But Then You Come to the Humans', premiered in February 2024 and is a searing examination of our need for connection in a separated world. The third and final piece will continue this cross-disciplinary exchange, premiering in the UK in February 2025, and offering a spark in the darkness as to where we might go.
(1:00) The Encounter directed and performed by Simon McBurney. Inspired by the book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu.
(1:10) Based on the novel The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Directed by Simon McBurney.
(3:01) Based on a novella by Mikhail Bulgakov. Written by Alexander Raskatov. Directed by Simon McBurney
When the dog Sharif gets a transplant of a human gland and testicles the mutated animal develops into an unscrupulous criminal. The only hope is to perform a second operation...
A collaboration between Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam and Complicité.
(3:28) Complicité partnered with the Barbican to produce Barking Nuns, a research project that looked at the role of women in religion, with a focus on Saint Ethelburga, the first female Abbess of Barking Abbey.
Directed by Complicité's Joyce Henderson (performer in The Magic Flute and The Street of Crocodiles), Complicité worked with 24 Year 10 Drama students at one of Britain's largest secondary schools, Sydney Russell School in Dagenham. All the students embarked on 'research sessions' at Valance House for 3 weeks, which taught them how to search through archives and discover interesting facts. Ancient music specialist Belinda Sykes led a choir of school teachers for 6 weeks.
The group then worked together for 7 days to create a theatrical performance, which took place at the Broadway Theatre, Barking, in June 2018.
|
|
|