Ritual. Transformation. Rebirth.

Ancient folklore collides with imagined futures in this bold and visually captivating dance performance. Beginning with an act of physical endurance, three performers push their bodies to the limit before embarking on a journey of transformation.

Drawing on female archetypes that have endured across generations – witches, mermaids, mothers, snakes, and warriors – the work explores how stories of womanhood are carried, inherited, and reimagined. As these figures emerge and dissolve, the performers navigate shifting landscapes of power, identity, and community, revealing the tension between tradition and technological progress.

Inspired by collective folk practices, the choreography moves between moments of unison and disruption. Shared rhythms fragment into collisions, repetition, and resistance, creating a physical world that reflects the contradictions of contemporary life: increasing connection alongside growing isolation. Shaking becomes a central movement language, appearing as both the residue of exhaustion and a force of transformation, release, and defiance.

Visually, reflective metallic materials evoke futuristic technologies and robotic forms, yet continually transform into fluid, organic shapes reminiscent of rivers, clouds, and mythical creatures. These shifting worlds blur the boundaries between human and machine, nature and technology, past and future.

At its heart, the work is a search for connection. Through endurance, transformation, and collective movement, it explores what it means to belong to one another in a world where technological advancement increasingly shapes how we relate, communicate, and care.

Image Credit: Elly Welford Photography

Additional information

Duration: 60 mins + 7 min curtain raiser performance

Curtain raiser performance by Exeter CAT students.

Venue: Auditorium, Exeter Phoenix

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more >>