Strangers & Others

Be alone and together simultaneously as you look, touch, assume and judge with fellow audience members

Strangers & Others is a new immersive piece from award winning maverick performers and choreographers H2 DANCE. T The groundbreaking show visits Norwich Arts Centre on 24 October with performances at 3pm, 5pm & 7:45pm, as part of a UK tour.
 
This is a playful performance without performers. Instead the audience are the protagonists in a show that asks how can we come together to co-exist and create understanding and empathy between social groups and cultures?  At a time when global events seem to lead to increasingly fractured and isolationist societies, community and integration seem more important than ever.
 
The audience are invited to don headphones to receive live instructions from H2 DANCE’s Hanna Gillgren and Heidi Rustgaard. The pair lead them through a series of choreographed meetings with permission to look, touch, assume and judge – and the trademark humour inherent in most of the company’s work is never far away.
 
Each performance will be different as, alone in their own headphone-controlled world yet moving within a group of strangers, each individual is free to choose how to respond. Witnessed only by the choreographers, appearance, physicality and behaviour will be their sole guides as they cooperate in silence. As the audience moves around they will create a constantly changing physical landscape of shapes and patterns as they come together or shift apart.
 
Immersed in light and sound, this is an experience of being alone and together at the same time. Who takes responsibility and when do actions have consequences? ‘We wanted to explore socialisation, tolerance, autonomy and exposure and freedom of choice’ said Heidi. ‘To see how a group of strangers follow the social codes and play their part’ added Hanna.
 
‘The disconnect is funny, sometimes brutal, and always entertaining’ The Guardian on H2DANCE’S Duet
 
Strangers & Others is itself the result of international cooperation and collaboration. With the creation process spread across Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany and London this is a truly pan European piece.
 
H2 DANCE were founded in 1999 by choreographer/performer duo Hanna Gillgren (Sweden) and Heidi Rustgaard (Norway). Together they produce provocative performance work that addresses political issues with humour and emotion. The company works in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams and local communities to create evocative performances that challenge and respond to the audience. Hanna and Heidi have co-created eight dance pieces, eleven touring shows, two dance films and several successful high quality participatory dance projects in the UK over the last 16 years.

Strangers & Others

Strangers & Others is funded by Arts Council England, Arts Council Norway, Nordic Culture Fund, Region Värmland Sweden, Dance4 Nottingham and supported via South East Dance and Jerwood Charitable Foundation Dramaturg in Residence programme. It is co-produced by Dance4 and Metal UK, Nordic House Iceland, Region Värmland and Dansens Hus Sweden, Bergen Dansesenter and Liikelaituri Finland.
 
Strangers and Others is a 60 minute participative performance installation suitable for everyone aged 14+. It involves movement & physical contact.
 
Choreography and direction: Hanna Gillgren and Heidi Rustgaard
Dramaturgy: Martin Hargreaves
Music composition: Sylvia Hallett
Lighting design: Andy Hammond
Producer: Natalie Richardson for Konzept Arts & Ideas
 

 
Strangers & Others
New immersive & participatory piece from H2 Dance looking at how we respond to, react to and judge strangers

Tuesday 24 October 3pm, 5pm & 7:30pm
Norwich Arts Centre, 51 St Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PG
Tickets £ Pay What You Can 01603 660352 

www.norwichartscentre.co.uk 

‘Their mix of deadpan laughs and pathos is a winner.’ Time Out on H2DANCE’S Duet