Disappearing Acts

Disappearing acts is an acclaimed international touring performance of 1 hour duration.
Funded by Arts Council England, the work looks at the idea of illusion and its disintegration from a choreographic point of view. By using extreme low-light conditions we detach the viewer from everyday distractions of busy and information-rich environments; creating a situation devoid of background context, presenting only moving body (or parts of the moving body) within a dislocated space.
Operating on the threshold of visibility Disappearing Acts offers subtle readings of the body, movement that disappears into the shadows or slips through unseen gaps in the curtains leaving lingering traces on the retina. Evocative images, stories and wry humour give voice to our experiences of disappearance, night-time and politically ‘dark times’. The work references the notion of the ephemeral nature of performance as explored by Phelan (1993), Lepecki (2004), also exploring ideas around loss, identity visibility and invisibility, appearance and disappearance within a political context.
Credits
Artistic Directors: Nic Sandiland and Yael Flexer
Choreography: Yael Flexer and the dancers
Dancers: Luke Birch, Nick Keegan, Aya Kobayashi, Lyndsey McConville, Julie Ann Minaai
Text: Wendy Houstoun
Dramaturgy: Pete Phillips
Sound Scores: Karni Postel, James Keane, and Nic Sandiland
Stage Lighting Design: Natalie Rowland.
Digital Lighting Design & Set: Nic Sandiland
Costume Design: Holly Murray
Technical Manager: Natalie Rowland
Project Management: Faith Dodkins
Photography: Chris Nash

Associated academic presentations:
Terror on Tour Symposium, University of Chichester, 2016. Curated by Dr Andrew Wilford.