A reality-bending meditation on bodies of light and the lightness of the body, Vivid Sydney presents Restless Dance Theatre’s Shifting Perspectives at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct from 29 May – 1 June 2024.
Enter the expansive mirror-maze of this immersive dance and art installation. Stand transfixed as dancers weave around the 24 mirrored plinths, light swirls and sound pulsates. Guests are encouraged to meander through the mirrored labyrinth, where roaming, shifting, and drifting can alter your point of view.
Once inside the maze, witness how the tables turn as you transition from observer to observed. Stationary dancers scattered throughout the maze paradoxically appear to move, while moving performers seem to remain still.
As the mirrors turn and reality around you bends, you’ll ask yourself how your perception influences your actions towards others and how their perspectives might shape your self-image.
Matthew Adey, renowned for his spatial artistry (Dark Mofo’s House of Vnholy) has worked in collaboration with Restless Dance Theatre to present a unique world where each step reveals a new perspective, a different you.
“The moving mirrors will enable the dancers to control what the audience see and challenge the audience’s viewpoint,” says Restless Dance Theatre Artistic Director, Michelle Ryan.
“Shifting Perspectives is an immersive experience that asks the audience to contemplate how a stationary body can become a moving body and vice versa. Playing with perception this work will turn reality upside down.”
Part riddle, part revelation, Shifting Perspectives will challenge your assumptions and prove that nothing is as it initially appears. Emerge with a new way of looking at the world!
“Like a visual jigsaw, the viewers mind has to quickly assimilate, piece together and make sense of the many images and fragmented reflections that the eyes are receiving.” – The Advertiser
Shifting Perspectives: An Interactive Performance
Walsh Bay Arts Precinct – Pier 2/3 Event Space, 13A Hickson Road, Walsh Bay (Sydney)
Performances: 29 May – 1 June 2024
Bookings: www.vividsydney.com
For more information, visit: www.restlessdance.org for details.
Image: Restless Dance Theatre presents Shifting Perspective – photo by Saige Prime