Immersive Physical Theatre: The Future of Dance Experience

In the global age, when technology is inseparable from our daily life, and the way we interact and experience the world, the idea of being passive consumers of culture, as we sit passively in the theatre, seems dated. The current audience is overflowed with information and stimulations, requiring us to constantly devise our attention, and rapidly adapt to new ideas. It is only natural that theatre will develop in the direction of interactive dialogue with its audience, that is demanding an experience that matches its attention capacity. Immersive experiences are the forefront of the newly developed dance performances. These include pieces that not only present the audience with images and information that is consumed passively, but require the spectator to constantly make decisions and guide its own experience actively. Ygal Tsur is a dance artist and performer, that has worked with some of the top choreographers in the world. He has worked closely with the British immersive theatre company ‘Punchdrunk’ (Sleep No More, NYC and Shanghai) in London, taking part in creating their production of ‘The Drowned Man’ while portraying the main male character in the piece. In his lecture Tsur uses his extensive knowledge and experience working worldwide in the field of dance, to demonstrate through exclusive footage and video material, the unique world created by Punchdrunk, and other immersive dance companies. The lecture gives a sneak peek into the developing technologies and dance language of immersive physical theatre, and presents to the audience exclusive knowledge of the ideas behind it, the ways of devising materials for it, and the physical working process of the piece