Closer

Contemporary dance has only recently gained the capability of mapping imagery into 3D theatre environments that appear to move towards and away from the audiences. This capability radically expands the metaphoric content possible in dance work. This work was animated by Megan Beckwith, performed and choreographed by Stephanie Hutchison with the sound designed by Jacques Soddell. The performance combines contemporary dance with stereoscopic illusions and video imagery. The work is based on the Walter Benjamin’s Ninth Thesis on the Philosophy of History, 1938. Benjamin describes the angel of history being ‘caught in a storm’ from Paradise and being ‘propelled into the future to which his back is turned’. This performance comments on how we invariably move into the future by taking our past with us.