Following the success with ULTRA at the National Arts Festival, Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre presents a new full-length work titled ‘autoplay’ by Louise Coetzer.
Autoplay is produced by multiple award-winning Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre and will be performed until 28 September at a uniquely transformed site within Longkloof Studios in Cape Town.
This hybrid work blends dance, Live Art performance, sound installation and digital art to bring dance theatre to a range of alternate dimensions. Autoplay is a surreal encounter between human and machine. The performance conjures a moving landscape that ebbs, shifts and transforms as it frames the experience, presenting a
breathtaking and multi-discipline production, with the calibre for which Darkroom Contemporary have become renowned.
“We wanted to create an expressly contemporary experience, set in the heart of the city, that dovetails into our desire to present dance out of traditional spaces,” says Louise Coetzer, co-founder and Artistic Director of Darkroom Contemporary, and director of autoplay.
She continues, “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.”
The performance features a new original score by renowned music artists Brydon Bolton (Benguela) and Njabulo Phungula, with vocalist Inge Beckmann (Lark, Beast).
Combining organic and manufactured soundscapes, the score fuses digital and analogue processing which invite the audience into this surreal game, while experimenting with the viewers’ perception.
Choreography, direction and set design are by Louise Coetzer. autoplay is performed by Bronwyn Craddock, Darion Adams, Vuyelwa Phota and Gabrielle Fairhead.
Upcoming show dates and times: 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 and 28 September at 8pm
22 and 24 September: 4pm
Tickets: available on Quicket at R250
Press Release courtesy of Darkroom Contemporary
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