| What: autoplay presented by Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre When: September 10 – 28, 2024 Where: Longkloof Studios in Cape Town Bookings: Quicket Choreography, direction and set design: Louise Coetzer Performers: Bronwyn Craddock, Darion Adams, Vuyelwa Phota and Gabrielle Fairhead Original score: Brydon Bolton and Njabulo Phungula, featuring vocalist Inge Beckmann Age advisory: 13+ Good to know: Ample secure undercover parking is available at Longkloof Studios.The fountain on Longkloof Square serves as the meeting point before the performance. There will be a special Heritage Day performance on September 24 at 16h00. This is followed by an Artist Talk and Q&A session with the artistic team and performers |
Exciting news is the autoplay, the new full-length work by Cape Town’s innovative Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre, choreographed, designed and directed by its artistic director by Louise Coetzer. This new dance theatre piece is being staged from September 10 – 28, 2024 at a transformed site at Longkloof Studios. “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,” says Coetzer. The piece features an original score by Brydon Bolton and Njabulo Phungula and features vocalist Inge Beckmann. Read on for more. Info as supplied:
Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre presents new full-length work autoplay in Cape Town in September 2024
Following the success with ULTRA at the National Arts Festival, Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre is proud to present a new, full-length work.
autoplay is produced by multiple award-winning Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre and will be performed from September 10 – 28, 2024 at a uniquely transformed site within Longkloof Studios in Cape Town.
This production is made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lotteries Commission, The National Arts Council of South Africa, and The Western Cape Government Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport, in partnership with Dance For All SA.
Staged in a secret location in central Cape Town, patrons areinvited into a multi-faceted arena where the performance reimagines itself for every audience. The initial meeting point for patrons will be the fountain on Longkloof Square, within Longkloof Studios.
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 performanceconjures 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.
“autoplay is a surreal encounter between human and machine. In this immersive performance, 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.”
“We use absurdity and satire to challenge the acceptance of our present, where others know more about ourselves than we do. By blending traditional and contemporary symbols of learning, autoplay imagines us learning to navigate a brave new world,” says Coetzer.
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.
This production is made possible thanks to the grant from the National Lotteries Commission, The National Arts Council of South Africa, and The Western Cape Government Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport, in partnership with Artscape Theatre and Dance For All SA.
Choreography, direction and set design are by Louise Coetzer. autoplay is performed by Bronwyn Craddock, Darion Adams, Vuyelwa Phota and Gabrielle Fairhead.
Bold and innovative, Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre is a leader in the production and distribution of distinctive contemporary works. Equally adept at creating for the stage, site responsive performance and film, Darkroom Contemporary’s works by founders Louise Coetzer and Oscar O’Ryan have garnered global recognition. Recent awards include the Artist Award at POOL Movement Art Festival Berlin 2022, and the 2023 DCAS award for Most Innovative Contribution to Dance.
Louise and Oscar’s latest film, Blue Funk, is currently doing the rounds on the international film festival circuit, with recent screenings as Official Selection for Cinedans 2024 (Netherlands); Dance Camera West 2024 (LA); and New York Buenos Aires Film Festival 2024 (Buenos Aires). Blue Funk is headed to Utah Dance Film Festival in Salt Lake City this August; Bucharest International Dance Film Festival in September.
Projects spearheaded by the founders Louise Coetzer and Oscar O’Ryan provide platforms to create opportunities for skills development and exchange among all artists involved. An emphasis on the use of New Technology and Digital Media frames their artistic approach, with a focus on three pillars of activation – Performance, Film and Development.
AUTOPLAY will be performed from September 10 to 28 on:
September 10 at 20h00 (Preview)
September 11, 12, 13, 20, 21 at 20h00
September 22 and 24 at 16h00 (24th followed by an Artist Talk and Q&A session)
September 25,26,27,28 at 20h0
Tickets cost R250.00
Ages 13+
Bookings can be made at Quicket
Ample secure undercover parking is available at Longkloof Studios.
The fountain on Longkloof Square serves as the meeting point before the performance.
*There will be a special Heritage Day performance on September 24 at 16h00. This is followed by an Artist Talk and Q&A session with the artistic team and performers.
| Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre: Join the conversation: Website: www.darkroomcontemporary.com Facebook: DarkroomContemporary Instagram: DarkroomContemporary |
LOUISE COETZER is a multidisciplinary Dance Artist working within the genres of Site-Specific Performance, Digital & Live Art, Choreography for the Stage, and Screendance. Her works are experiential, experimental, and place interdisciplinary approaches at their core, while grappling with the tensions between the physical and psychological, and mankind’s place within the universe and metaverse.
Her research on the use of New Technologies and Media Applications as presentation tools, is ongoing. A focus on broadening audience interest in Dance, by connecting the form to the world outside the Theatre, informs her explorations of placing Dance in surprising juxtaposition with everyday life, both real and virtual. Her works are recognisable for their distinct physicality, intricately woven counterpoints and the conjuring of unexpected domains her performers inhabit, and she has produced works incorporating Kinetic Motion Sensor Technology, Full Dome 3D Projection, Interactive Laser Projection, Interactive Projection Mapping, Telematic Performance, Gaming, Interactive Sound Installation and Artificial Intelligence.
Coetzer trained as a dancer and obtained a B. Tech Degree in Dance, with Movement Composition as Major, from the Pretoria Technikon. She is currently living and working in Cape Town. She is founding Artistic Director of Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre, an Award-Winning Company formed as a vehicle to reimagine Dance, through its innovative approach to staging and presenting Interdisciplinary Works. Coetzer is a Guest Lecturer at the University Of Cape Town’s Centre for Theatre Dance and Performance Studies and has taught as part of the faculties of the Cape Academy of Performing Arts, Dance For All, Western Cape Education Department, Cape Junior Ballet, City Varsity and AFDA.
PERFORMANCE
Recent commissions include new works for the Kucheza Afrika Festival, Pan African Telematic Art Project, CREATIVATE at the National Arts Festival, Zeits MOCAA, and the Iziko Planetarium. Her Performances and Installations have been showcased at the Zeits Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, the Centre For The Less Good Idea, Dance Umbrella, Kucheza Afrika Festival, Baxter Dance Festival, the National Arts Festival, Ars Electronica (Linz,Austria), Fak!ugesi Festival of African Digital Innovation, and the Norval Foundation, and was awarded Best Live & Interdisciplinary Art Production at Vrystaat Kunstefees 2022.
FILM
Coetzer is an award winning Dance Film maker and her Video Art and Screendance works have been presented at festivals worldwide. Awards include the POOL 22 Artist Award at POOL Movement Art Film Festival Berlin (Germany), Best of Festival Award at Third Coast Dance Film Festival (Nevada, USA); Best Film Award at Under The Dome Festival (SA); and Jury Awards at Denton Black Film Festival (Texas, USA); and Danceador Videodance Festival (USA). Her Film works have been presented by Video Art Miden (Greece), 40 North Festival (Calif. USA), Foreign Exchange (Paris, France), Ubumuntu Arts Festival (Kigali,Rwanda), Agite Y Sirva (Oaxaca, Mexico), The British Film Institute (London, UK) and Global Art & Moving Images (Pinsio, Finland).
WEB : www.louisecoetzer.com
DARKROOM CONTEMPORARY DANCE THEATRE is an award winning, interdisciplinary Company formed as vehicle to reimagine Dance, through its innovative approach to staging and presenting contemporary works. Darkroom Contemporary challenges perceptions on how Dance is viewed, by creating unique audience experiences, and new ways of representing Dance through Live Art, Screendance, Interdisciplinary & Tech – Based Performance, and Site – Specific & Public Performance.
The organisation was founded in 2010 by Louise Coetzer and Oscar O’Ryan, in Cape Town, South Africa. Coetzer, a Dancer and Choreographer, and O’Ryan, a Photographer and Filmmaker, bring together expertise from their respective fields to form a dynamic partnership. Projects spearheaded by the founders provide platforms and create opportunities for skills development and exchange among all artists involved. An emphasis on the use of New Technology and Digital Media frames their artistic approach, with a focus on three pillars of activation:
PERFORMANCE
Darkroom Contemporary is a research & development Dance Company, exploring how Dance can merge with Technology to enhance its Live Performance and Film works. To date, the Company has produced works incorporating Kinetic Motion Sensor Technology, Full Dome 3D Projection, Interactive Laser Projection, Interactive Projection Mapping, Telematic Performance, Gaming, Interactive Sound Scaping and Artificial Intelligence; showcased at Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria); National Arts Festival, Zeits MOCAA, Norval Foundation, Centre for the Less Good Idea, Fa’kugesi Festival of African Digital Innovation, Pan African Creative Exchange, Kucheza Afrika Festival, Ubumuntu Arts Festival (Kigali, Rwanda) and Dance Umbrella.
FILM
An extensive & award winning body of Dance Film works exist alongside the Company’s Performance Repertoire, making the work accessible to a larger global audience through the mediums of Film and Digital Media. The Company’s Film works have featured at POOL Tanzfilm Festival Berlin (Germany); Festival Miden (Kalamata, Greece); Dance Days Chania ( Crete); Under the Dome Festival of Immersive Films; Denton Black Film Festival (Texas, USA); Antidote Festival (Netherlands); 40 North Festival (California USA); Agite Y Sirva ( Mexico); Foreign Exchange ( Paris, France); Global Art and Moving Images Awards ( Finland); U- Dance on Screen (UK); and the British Film Institute (UK).
DEVELOPMENT
The Company consistently explores new avenues to make Dance accessible to all, through its Artistic Output, Educational Activities and Developmental Initiatives. Darkroom Contemporary is a registered Non Profit Organisation and Public Benefit Organisation with the objectives to provide opportunities for trained performers and arts practitioners, while encouraging audiences to appreciate and support the art of Dance. The Company’s Development Initiatives provide platforms and create opportunities for skills development and exchange among all involved. These Development Initiatives include facilitating Youth Development through Arts Education, encouraging audience expansion through free Public Art activations, and raising the profile of Dance through its interactive approach tailored to the Digital Age.
AWARDS:
- Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport : Cultural Awards 2023. Winner: Most Innovative Contribution to Dance
- POOL Movement Art Film Festival Berlin (Germany): POOL Artist Award 2022 awarded to Louise Coetzer & Oscar O’Ryan, for unique contribution to the genre of screen dance
- Vrystaat Kunstefees 2022: Winner: Best Interdisciplinary & Live Art Production
- Toyota US Woordfees 2023 : Woordtrofees Nomination: Best achievement in Dance
✳ Bronwyn Craddock and Darion Adams in Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre’s autoplay. Photo by Oscar O Ryan. Sponsored content. Images supplied.
