IN THE ABSENCE

By PETT | CLAUSEN-KNIGHT
with James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight
Production DANCEHAUSpiù 
Duration 30'

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What does it mean to move forward in life? How can fear and trauma affect our will to move forward? Where sorrow meets joy, exile meets return, decay meets growth. Silence came between. A journey in movement exploring the nature of absence and our transition from endings to beginnings.

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In the absence is an exploration on the nature of moving forward, the concept of evolving past an event and the boundaries created in that transition.

The piece explores the journey of two characters each of whom struggles in the shared experience of letting go and the universal fear of acceptance. Reflection, struggle and longing to let go are the central themes explored through the dancers movements and the evocative set filled with thousands of small reflective confetti.

The stage floor creates a vast mirrored surface where the dancers move, shift and even dishevel the materials. This powerful visual effect provokes the constant flux of the human mind as we process the memories of our past. The shifting nature of the choreography is a visual meditation on how our experiences can shape the choices we make to move forward.

What emerges from what was buried gives way to something new, new life, like autumn in the woods.

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