Apparition | Dublin Dance Festival

Star Rating: 3/5

Apparition - Dublin Dance Festival

David O'Shaughnessy

Klaus Obermaier's new media/dance fusion performance Apparition takes the empty space of the Samuel Beckett Theatre and drops in two lone dancers, a projector and screen, and a lot of tech behind the scenes. Billed as an art experiment in merging technology and live dancers as interactive partners, what occurs is a series of ever-evolving scenes where performers move and the technology responds by projecting on or around them in monochromatic shapes, not too dissimilar to early computer screensavers.

Robert Tannion and Desirée Kongerod are perfectly athletic and capable performers, a bit overshadowed by the technological display at first, but really shine when the projections act as a backdrop and not an extra player in the piece.

The projection and reactive ability is innovative and captivating, but after five minutes the wow factor loses its wow, and what follows is a varying series of movements based on the same interactive trick. A lot of time is spent watching the screen and projection itself and not the unity with or ability of the dancers, trying to figure out what the newest rule the computer behind the scenes is imposing on the performers and projection screen. As a work in progress showcase for the technology, Apparition is entertaining, but this type of performance needs to move beyond basic geometric shapes to something more emotive before it can establish itself as a worthy extension of the artform.

Story by EI Team | 09:00 | Thursday 31st May 2012 | Theatre

333

Comments

• No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!

Log in to leave a comment

Login or register to leave a comment

Enter your email:

Enter Password: Lost Your Password?