Jean Abreu Dance Company – Solo for Two

British-Brazilian choreographer Jean Abreu has spent half his life in Brazil and the other half in Britain. His new dance work Solo for Two sees him work with acclaimed Belgian dramaturg Guy Cools to explore how this dual identity- formed in-between different cultures and dance languages – is created by cycles of loss, letting go and new beginnings. Leaving behind the Brazilian heat, the social dances, the cooked beans and the sound of a mother’s voice, a man and a woman, two sides of the same coin, struggle to find their place in the world. In this powerfully physical duet, danced to a new electronic score by Luca Biada and a bittersweet collage of songs and laments, the dancers are inextricably linked in a battle for survival and a new identity. A third performer is a little robot called Macheba who mirrors, observes and interacts with the dancers. A two-headed female character, with a birdy-light as the conscious eye and a projector as the subconscious level, Macheba scans the dancers’ memories and projects their feelings. Operated and cued on the spot as part of the choreography, she is a witness to their struggle, scanning and limiting the space and determining their options. Macheba is the creation of technologists Michele Panegrossi, Luca Biada and computer scientist Leon Watts in collaboration with Jean Abreu and Guy Cools. With the use of robotics in Solo for Two, Jean continues to explore the challenges of technology in his work, following BLOOD, his 2013 collaboration with Gilbert & George.

Purcell Room