It can be frightening to be plunged into a darkness inhabited by suspected but unseen and unpredictable dangers. Darkness, however, can also be calming, as it offers a complete break from visual stimulation. This heightens the senses of hearing and touch, and you can feel a different and deeper connection with your surroundings.
One Two is an immersive performance that explores both these emotions. As one of the participants, you enter a totally darkened space in which five dancers interact with you and each other. Wearing night vision goggles means you can see the performers, spy on them, crawl closer to them—or move away from them.
The dancers practice holotropic breathing throughout, putting them into an altered state of consciousness. In this focused trance, they perform a choreography that coalesces all stages of human togetherness: the search for connection, the struggle for power, seduction and attraction, weariness of one another, the inevitable end, and the collective resurgence. Like some prehistoric version of cinema, this ritual needs no more than smoke, rhythm and sound—and just a little light at the end.
Please note this performance will be in the dark, with night vision cameras for viewing that will also be recording.
One Two is co-presented by IDFA and Flemish Cultural Center De Brakke Grond.
Stills
