Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre showcases a transformed location to give audiences a multifaceted arena experience with intriguing visuals.
After its success with Ultra at the National Arts Festival, Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre presents a new, full-length work by Louise Coetzer.
The hybrid work blends dance, live art performance, sound installation and digital art to bring dance theatre to a range of alternate dimensions.
Produced by DCDT, Autoplay will take the stage at a secret location in Longkloof Studios, central Cape Town, from September 10 to 28.
Patrons are invited into a multi-faceted arena where the performance reimagines itself for every audience.
The co-founder and artistic director of Darkroom Contemporary, Louise Coetzer said Autoplay was a surreal encounter between human and machine.
The performance conjured a moving landscape that ebbed, shifted and transformed as it framed the experience, presenting a breathtaking and multidisciplined production, with the calibre for which Darkroom Contemporary had become renowned.
“With Autoplay, we continue exploring key themes of human engagement with machines and the automated world.
“In keeping with Darkroom Contemporary’s creative process of blending dance, live art, original soundscapes and digital mediums, we engage in new ways with these topics, while creating a slightly different performance for every audience. We are excited to be taking dance into different, new spaces within the city.
“Patrons can enjoy this unique performance experience, piquing their imaginations and inspiring discussions around the themes.
“In this immersive performance, we confront traditional notions of identity and autonomy in an era where our lives have become intricately woven into the fabric of a digital landscape. Through its interaction with artificial intelligence and machine learning, this charged game of musical chairs confronts questions of agency, autonomy, influence and the blurred boundaries between free will and manipulation in a Digital Age.”
“We use absurdity and satire to challenge the acceptance of our present, where others know more about ourselves than we do. By blending traditional and contemporary symbols of learning, Autoplay imagines us learning to navigate a brave new world.”
The performance features a new original score by music artists Brydon Bolton and Njabulo Phungula, with vocalist Inge Beckmann. Choreography is performed by Bronwyn Craddock, Darion Adams, Vuyelwa Phota and Gabrielle Fairhead.
Weekend Argus