Uncanny
Valley

What changes do our bodies have to face in times of digitalisation?

Familiarity — the valley — Human

Type

Performance

Countries

The Netherlands & Germany

Locations

Berliner Festspiele
Theater Kerkrade

Duration

45 minutes

Highlight — Schrit_tmacher GENERATION2 Co-Laboration

About

Living in algorithmic worlds

We talked about the pros and cons of a digitalisation that urges us to live in algorithmic worlds, and about how these worlds are connected to our own longings, dreams, hopes, and fears. Imagination and sensory perception played an important role during rehearsals. Everything around us and everything inside us became part of the choreography. …

Forty-five demanding minutes

Uncanny Valley was a demanding forty-five-minute piece on stage. The process involved not only learning Lin's choreography and body percussion patterns, but also learning each other's ways of moving through space, and how we use our bodies to communicate the story we are telling. It was a fully collaborative process that required stage presence, coordination, and body synchronicity.

The rehearsal process was structured through different layers of exploration, including group choreographies, duets, and solo work.

In my case, I had the opportunity to develop a short solo with an apple — a space for personal interpretation and discovery within the larger framework of the piece.

Alongside creating movement material, we worked on developing the dramaturgical structure of the performance and understanding how the different sections connected to build the overall narrative.

The process also included movement workshops, various types of warm-ups, and exercises designed to build trust, expand our movement vocabulary, and strengthen our sense of group unity. There was also room for improvisation, and the discovery of something new in every performance.

The work involved a great deal of research — not only physical research into how digitalisation impacts our bodies, but also conceptual exploration of technology, and how our bodies, minds, and perceptions change the more we interact with phones and other devices.

Cast & Team