It’s 2022 so it’s about time we are choreographing robots.
Neon Dance presents Prehension Blooms, an interactive contemporary dance show that brings to The Place a perfect blend of art and technology by incorporating spectacular performers with the latest in AI robotic technology.
Yes, it is 2022 and Adrienne Hart, the director of Prehension Blooms, was directing both dancers and robots. The show performed by Fukiko Takase and Travis Clausen-Knight has been conceived in collaboration with composer Sebastian Reynolds, the award-winning visual artist Ana Rajcevic, and lead technologist Hemma Philamore.
I think I must preface this review by saying that I am not a dancer, I am not a choreographer, I am an actor and writer. My perspective when watching a show, no matter the style is to always be open to the story. Ultimately no matter the format or the type or style, we as audience members are always just looking for the story. And the beauty of abstract work like Prehension Blooms is that you are given a lot of options for what you chose to see, how you interpret what you are given and what you take from it.
Prehension Blooms by Neon Dance explores community and what it means to feel isolated in such a global digital multicultural village. The show involves many people behind the scenes but on stage, we have only 2 humans (and 2 robots). The performers explore in a very conceptual way themes of companionship and loneliness; set in a distant future and ancient past.
The set is bare except for what I can only describe being huge boxes of sand with some bones half-buried within but those creatures slowly begin to move as the show progresses. From the beginning, the relationship between the two performers Fukiko Takase and Travis Clausen Knight seems about finding a balance. Between dark and light, fast and slow, bound and free, art and technology and each other.
They found a very creative way of incorporating robotics with contemporary dance and how that can be justified to ultimately give the audience new and interesting ways to access performance and creative spaces all with the backdrop of music that was created during the rehearsal process.
The movement and the work of both dancers were exquisite. It was also ugly and uncomfortable when it needed to be. When both female and male dancers put on these big, long garments, they were able to extend their bodies even further and create the most beautiful imagery proving the point that the dress cannot wear you, you have to wear the dress. And they were wearing the hell out of those garments!
If something was lacking from the performance, I must say it was breath and therefore, story.
The relationship between music and movement and breath seemed a bit off at times and then the many silences of this performance were not earned by the artists. Sometimes the desolation from one song track to the next was done quite mechanically and the performers weren’t able to hold those silences with the inner life of their characters. The job of filling up those silences is so hard, especially on a piece that has no spoken word but towards the end, Travis Clausen-Knight showed a deeper connection to the circumstances of his character and breath was a huge factor in that. After all, movement without breath is missing intention and purpose and once that came in everything was much more alive.
Overall, it was an impressive and technically exquisite performance by both Fukiko Takase and Travis Clausen-Knight proving that if there’s one thing, we can still say for certain regardless of the technological advances, is that humans still dance better than robots.