AURORA BOREALIS

devised and directed by David W W Johnstone

with Clive Nicholas Andrews and Charlotte Jarvis

image: Radiate, Alastair Clark, 2008

Dance Base, Grassmarket, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Festival Wed 20 - Sat 23 August 2008
12 noon (35 mins)
£5/£4
www.dancebase.co.uk

‘Beautiful, tender and understated performances... a truly original new work’
Chrys Salt, Stage Further Festival 2007

You glimpse the phenomenal... can you remain the same? Seeing the aurora borealis – it’s one of those rare, sought-after, magical experiences. This new production explores how such encounters change behaviour, personality and vision. It is performed in Lazzi’s unforgettable style, skilfully combining improvisation and abstraction, simplicity and joy... with all the imaginative, surprising touches that audiences have come to expect from this innovative theatre company. Performed in natural light, Aurora Borealis is a gentle and moving exploration of character, anticipation, and enlightenment. 

Developed and first performed during an artist residency at Dance Base, Edinburgh

First performed at Stage Further Festival 2007.

'What we need is a new language: the poetry of the dancing bee, that tells us where the honey is.' Andre Gregory

David W W Johnstone, Lazzi’s Artistic Director, writes: 

This show was inspired by a real experience – I was flying over the Arctic Circle on a transatlantic flight. For at least half an hour the plane flew through the aurora borealis. We were bathed in a dazzling display of light. An unforgettable experience. I knew immediately that my next production would attempt the impossible – to explore this phenomenon, this potential for the super-natural to touch us deeply. The aurora borealis becomes an abstraction of the ever-present yet invisible, suddenly captivating us, changing us forever.

But how can a group of performers express such an experience? I did not want to reproduce the northern lights on stage, but rather the effect it has, a sense of wonder, and a kind of vision.  It's about what takes place in the watchers' and the audience's minds and bodies.  

The piece is an experiment in exploring quiet subtleties of behaviour - and the transition from introspection into communication. I wanted a performance dynamic that ranges from the hyper-realistic to a kind of abstract 'behavioural jazz'. Is it Realism? Abstraction? This is not so much about performing as not performing, a sense of inactivity - or perhaps reactivity at its subtlest. The smallest movement becomes expression of large emotions. Communication becomes instinctual, almost telepathic.

I'd like the audience to feel that they have used their imaginations, and have enjoyed doing so.