Choreographer Loughlan Prior and Composer Claire Cowan have assembled a fine group of collaborating artists to realise their shared vision for their company Lo | Co Arts and together they have created a work of rare beauty in Half | Life, which premiered last night in Q’s Rangatira Theatre, for the Tempo Dance Festival.

The premise of the work appears to be that our lives are merely half-lived, given the diverse manipulations that we (willingly) submit to, when we enter into the world of cyberspace.  To re-create this environment of multifarious seductions, Prior and Cowan have utilised a sort of cross-fertilisation of the collaborators’ skills so that each is contributing equally to the final creation. Virtual reality is given a metaphysical manifestation, at times bleak and intentionally unsettling with the elements of manipulation spelled out through imagery of hands, directing, imploring, signalling and weaving through space, or controlling the action in digitally enhanced isolation.

In addition to Prior and Cowan, the collaborators’ skills comprise Tom Dennison’s contribution as composer and sound-engineer; lighting and scenic design by Filament Eleven 11; dramaturgy by The Friday Company; photography by Celia Walmsley; film by Jeremy Brick; and animation by Glynn Urquhart.

The outstanding group of dancers who are onstage throughout, perform Prior’s unique vocabulary of seamless contemporary ballet with a commitment that is a joy to watch, imbuing every movement with meaning. Led by Royal New Zealand Ballet guest artist Kirby Selchow, the ensemble of Laura Saxon Jones, Kit Reilly, Tabitha Dombroski and Bjorn Aslund contribute a unique flavour to the work. Their pliant bodies bend and form into exquisite shapes which are held briefly before breaking down and regrouping into other elegant formations. Their extensions are elongated into beautiful lines which contrast pleasingly with the softness of their releasing movements.

Watching over the dancers are giant hyper-colourised versions of themselves filmed in various positions – in profile, looking down or lying in a supine position, their arms and legs clawing upwards into the ether. Very often the dancers are looking up at these alter-egos or dancing in unison with their doubles. This then forms an analogy for the half-life, with the virtual doppelgangers often directing the action that is being enacted below them.

As the work progresses, these virtual forms sometimes become less-formed in nascent foetal-like shapes which then dissolves into particles of matter. “Disrupt! Disrupt! Disengage!” urges a disembodied voice and in response the dancers’ movements intensify into shaking, frenzied responses.

Some of the highlights of the work occur when Cowan emerges out of the gloom, onto the stage as an enchantress, clad in a long black cloak with a blank, white facemask and wearing magical MiMU gloves. The (wearable) musical instrument creates an ethereal sound through the movement of her hands, which the dancers then respond to in kind as she seemingly casts a spell over them. At other time she creates short, sharp sounds or expelled breaths, which elicits rhythmic or staccato movements from the dancers. One of the strengths of this collaborative approach is the rare synergy that exists between Prior’s choreography and Cowan’s musical composition.

The final imagery of two embryonic forms, one seated and one standing on islands of moving shards of light, staring into the distance, is quite breath-taking.

In Aotearoa and many other parts of the world choreographers and academics are researching the ways in which technology can be incorporated into dance. It is certain that Half | Life and Lo | Co Arts will make a striking and memorable contribution to these investigations.

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