Seven dancers move with breathtaking precision through an exhilarating electronic score, translating abstract climate data into something immediate and felt. 1 Degree Celsius makes us witness what we've been living through all along.Rating
Excellent
Ten years ago, countries agreed to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels. The world, as a whole, has already warmed approximately 1.1 degrees since 1880. This attained degree is referenced in choreographer Sung Im Her’s latest project, 1 Degree Celsius, which features sound and lighting design inspired by data collected from rising atmospheric temperatures.
The stage is set with a warmly lit, thick haze, with thirty-two stage lights pointed accusingly at the audience. A dancer rolls on stage – choreographer Her – and is later joined by the other six dancers (Dae Gyu Moon, Gyeong Mi Hwang, Hyeon Taek Oh, Ji Soo Ryu, Jun Hong Cho, Jae Sung Yu). There is a slow development: performers pace around the stage, freeze in their formations, slowly unfurl their limbs and tremor rhythmically.
Over time, the dancers begin to hurl themselves into a backward wave, heads cresting over their legs, and gather – the lights dim, and a soft spotlight illuminates them. Moving together with immaculate precision (there are sharp turns, quick direction changes, tight formations), the dancers flock around the stage, with a few soloists escaping the collective. This is where the dancers especially shine: each moves with particular style and grace, free from the conformity of unison. What this says about our climate-changing world is intriguing: is change noteworthy, even beautiful?
These themes of uniformity and mutation are evident in the sound design by Husk Husk and Lucy Duncan, which features spare strings and a layered, bass-driven beat. The scoring is a particular highlight, propelling all seven dancers to pick up an exhilarating pace – the effect is rewarding, an exciting intensification of the measured opening. Lighting design by Young Uk Lee also undergirds these themes: alternating blue and warm washes, soft spotlights and interesting use of specials to illuminate pathways on the stage.
There are recurring motifs in the choreography (sharp turns, slicing arm movements, pacing forward/backward), which become clearer over the performance. When Her reappears after a large ensemble section, charging in opposite directions of the marching dancers, she brings together the recurring gestures into one, fluid piece of choreography. It’s a moment of clarification which helps the entire work cohere. The piece peaks with a frenzied unison phrase as the lights go painfully bright and the electronic score crescendoes – an oblivion of sorts – and then transitions into a dark, warmly orange glow over the slowly moving cast – a warning of the aftermath.
Many socially engaged performances seek to educate or inform. 1 Degree Celsius takes a different approach: our planet is already changing, so we instead witness an embodied reflection on this change. Through a shared, repetitive movement vocabulary, the dancers create landscapes which allow us a wider perspective of equilibrium and deviation. One is reminded of widely circulated ‘climate stripes’ diagrams, which draw our attention to dramatic and frequent mutations from average temperatures. 1 Degree Celsius asks us to reckon with climate consequences that will play out beyond our lifetimes, making abstract data visceral and felt.
Choreography by Sung Im Her
Rehearsal directors: Ji Hye Ha, Ei Sul Lee
Lighting design by Young Uk Lee
Stage manager: Sang Ji Choi
Sound design by Husk Husk, Lucy Duncan
Costume design by Mio Jue
Produced by Hyun Jin Yim (KR), Uprise Rebel (UK)
Commissioned by Asian Cultural Center (ACC). Supported by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.
1 Degree Celsius has completed its run at Southbank Centre.
