Duo.

Two spaces, two dancers, one hypnotically beautiful duet bridging the virtual and physical.

Separated by oceans, existing on either side of a screen two dancers are united through cascading notes, spiralling phrases and a choreography that disregards distance.

Created and performed in England and Aotearoa, Duo is an experiment in combining the virtual with the physical. Informed by the combined skills of two internationally experienced performers, and off the back of a sold-out Prague season of their first exploration in this area, this show is both exquisitely watchable and a much needed reminder that distance does not need to lead to disconnection.

With London-based Amy Mauvan projected into the space and Jess Quaid physically present, this skillfully crafted choreography uses the common structures and motifs of the duet form to bridge the virtual/physical divide and create a tangible connection between the two performers. The sounds of Halvorsen’s Passacaglia for Violin and Cello provide a structural map, while a new composition merging Handel’s original movement with the sounds of the ocean echoes the shifting energy of the dance.

Amy Mauvan and Jess Quaid have been artistic collaborators for over ten years. Their shared skills in image-based contemporary dance techniques enable them to build the clear musical base into a richly abstract, emotive landscape of inventive variations.

At times virtuosic, at times as calm as deep waters, combining tested methodology with the limitless possibilities of the virtual, Duo shifts the traditional duet into the altered spaces that have become our normal.