Figures in Extinction [1.0] / Figures in Extinction [2.0] – But then you come to the humans / Figures in Extinction [3.0]
The Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) is guesting at the Staatsballett Berlin with an extraordinary project: Figures in Extinction, a trilogy about climate change that the choreographer Crystal Pite and the theater maker Simon McBurney have been developing at the NDT over several years.
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Nederlands Dans Theater & Complicité
«We live in an age of extinction. Can we ever hope to give a name to what we are losing? What does it mean to witness the violence in which we are both perpetrators and victims?"
Choreographer Crystal Pite and director Simon McBurney explored what moves them and exchanged ideas on every continent: How to reflect on fears and cautious hopes for the times in which we live? And how can artists be sensibly creative in the face of universal doom?
Inevitably, the joint discussion between the two world-famous artists resulted in a joint project.
Co-produced by the Nederlands Dans Theater and McBurney's theater group Complicité, three works are presented, which are to be understood as a reaction to the previous one and are created in a four-year collaboration for the NDT1.
The first work, Figures in Exctintion [1.0], premiered in The Hague in 2022 and was awarded the important Dutch “Zwaan” prize as the most impressive dance production. The second work, premiered in February 2024, is a powerful examination of the human need for connection in a divisive world.
In Figures in Extinction [2.0] - But then you come to the humans, a complex scientific text is heard from the off in which the neuroresearcher and psychiatrist Iain McGilChrist warns against neglecting our empathic right half of the brain in comparison to the data-processing left.
The third and final piece, premiering in the UK in February 2025, will continue this interdisciplinary exchange with the intention of bringing a spark of light into the darkness they may be heading into.
The Nederlands Dans Theater, founded in 1959, is a leading international contemporary company dedicated to the development and creation of new dance works. “Complicité” is an international touring theater company based in London under the direction of artistic director and co-founder Simon McBurney.
The troupe (founded in 1983 and winner of major awards worldwide) is all about strengthening human connection while harnessing the complicity between performers and audience that is at the core of the theater experience.
The various disciplines of theater, opera, film, radio, installation, publication and participatory art can equally serve this collective act of imagination.
- A co-production of Nederlands Dans Theater and Complicité.
Additional information
Dates
July 2025
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