Humanhood

presents

“Information in the universe may be communicating in an instantaneous way. 

Where everything is actually talking to everything instantaneously, across all scales. 

So when you move your little finger, everything in the universe knows you moved that finger, and adjusts for it.”

Nassim Haramein

If we started at point zero, how would we look at reality and experience life? Two individuals dive into a sea of

energy, reconnecting with identity.

Submerge into Humanhood’s hypnotic and powerful piece .

A visually and sonically mesmerising performance of immersive sound, hypnotising lights and virtuosic

movement where the two dancers entangle through a ritualistic journey. Experience a spiritual dance and get transported into a dream-like world of imagination and

beauty.

HumanHood Humanhood was founded in 2014 under the Artistic Direction of Rudi Cole (Birmingham) and Júlia Robert Parés (Barcelona). Rudi graduated at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (Leeds) and Julia trained at the London Contemporary Dance School (The Place) as well as receiving a Postgraduate in Physical Theatre from the Royal Holloway University. They have worked with Akram Khan and Jasmin Vardimon, among many others. In 2016 Rudi and Julia travel to India to undertake a learning process with Sheela Raj founder of ‘Moving Breath’ method. Rudi and Julia are Associate Artists at macbirmingham, Déda Derby and Birmingham DanceXChange.

Humanhood works collaboratively with international mixed field artists and aims to create immersive dance productions fusing light, sound & movement. The research behind Humanhood’s creations resides in their curiosity for physics and human consciousness, merging and adapting the creative process with the theme of research itself. They collaborate with physicists to integrate the researches and theories of science in their everyday practice. Humanhood ongoing journey focuses on questioning the reality we live in and strives to become a platform for exchange, interaction & human creative interconnection.

Previous Works include Madrid Choreographic competition finalist and Masdanza official selection short duet “The Mask behind Doors” and current outdoor piece ‘Nomadis’. ‘ZERO’ wad premiered in October 2016 at mac birmingham. The 15min extract of ‘ZERO’ was awarded 1st Prize at Madrid Choreographic Competition in 2016.

.the project.

is Humanhood’s first full length piece and has been researched and created over a period of one year and a half.

It is important for us to carefully engage with all the elements of a dance production, bringing each of them to its fullest potential and high quality. This is why we decided to start the collaborations with all the mixed-field artists involved in the process from the first stages of the creation of the piece. All the elements have informed each other, sometimes being the sound or the light as the primary elements and building the movement there forth.

The structure and idea behind is to immerse the audience into a sensorial experience expanding the ways a dance piece can be presented.

Depending on the Venue where is presented, the beginning of the piece involves the audience entering the auditorium and walking on stage. There is a 360º sound installation using 4 to 8 speakers around the audience seating area. This piece uses smell scents.

.TEAM.

Artistic Direction/Choreography/Performance Rudi Cole & Júlia Robert Parés

Original Music Gyda Valtysdottir, Alex Forster,Xhosa Cole,

Azizi Cole and Shahzad Ismaily

Dramaturgy . Lou Cope …

Lighting Design . Horne Horneman

Sound Design & Composition . Iain Armstrong …………..……

Costume Design . Mark Howard ..

Rehearsal Director . Shanelle Clemenson

Physicist Collaborator . William Chaplin

is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and commissioned by mac Birmingham. Supported by ACE Dance and Music and DanceXchange.

Residencies for the creative process of the work-in-progress have happened at mac birmingham, ACE Dance and Music (Birmingham), DanceXchange (Birmingham), Patrick Centre (Birmingham), Shawbrook (Ireland), El Gato Azul (Sitges), Institute of the Arts of Barcelona, La Caldera (Barcelona), Nunart Guinardó (Barcelona), Zorba de Buddha (New Delhi - India), Surjit Studio (Manipur - India).

Created in collaboration with Birmingham University School of Physics and Astrophysics.

.SUPPORTERS.

.Science.Dance. .Physics.

We started conversations with poet and Doctor in thermodynamics David Jou, professor at UAB in Barcelona and had further meetings with Prof. William Chaplin

leader of the programme of the NASA Kepler Mission devoted to the astero-seismic investigation of solar-type stars. Most of the choreographic sections of Zero have

been inspired by the conversations we had with these two physicists as well as researching the qualities of galaxies, atoms structures & behaviours and dark

matter. We also acknowledge the participation of the observer in quantum physics experiments and translate it into the role of both the performer and the audience.

.Movement. During the beginning of 2016 we travelled to India to learn ‘Moving Breath’ from its creator Sheela Raj, applying and intensifying the connection between breath and movement as a continuous regenerating motion. This translates into Humanhood’s

movement vocabulary with circular & sinuous patterns. Many observers have spoken about the symbiotic connection between our two bodies on

space merging and splitting like molecules.

.music.

The firsts 3 periods of research&development happened in Birmingham (UK), Sitges (Spain) and Shawbrook (Ireland) in which Rudi and Julia collaborated with Icelandic cellist Gyda Valtysdottir, Londoner music producer Alex Forster and

American-Pakistani multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. These sessions focused in exploring circular & uni-tone music compositions based on open

improvisations, specially for Gyda’s cello recordings. These sessions inspired her following uni-tone live concert in Iceland.

In September 2015, at the very heart of the forest artistic retreat in Shawbrook (Ireland) we experienced a full moon eclipse together with Gyda and Shahzad

during which we created the cycloidal and elevating music for the beginning and end of the piece. Later, we also worked with Xhosa Cole, saxophonist, & Azizi

Cole, percussion, adding extra textures and rhythms to the score of

.Design. .Sound.

We worked hand to hand with Iain Armstrong, Birmingham based sound designer, adding sound-scores and finalising the composition of the music

generated by the musicians and shaping it into a 360º installation. By using surround sound and spatialisation software the investigation was to expand the dance, visual &

sound experience. The sound composition was influenced by the conversations we had with Professor William Chaplin and his research in asteroseismology, studying the

oscillations of stars generated by sound waves.

.Costume. We also worked with the awarded best independent Birmingham shop designer Mark

Howard, to develop the costumes for Zero . The contrasts and textures of the costumes modify through the piece by its relation with the white chalk set. The costumes are

inspired by outer-space colours & light as well as Eastern approaches.

.Light. We have been collaborating with Horne Horneman since the creation of our first

short works. For Zero , Horne started sharing his lighting ideas with us from which we created some of the sections of the piece. We played with circular

motions for the programming of the lights and finding the edges between the seen and the un-seen (dark matter), giving a

dark mysterious atmosphere to the piece as well as space for the imagination and sound.

Mark Howard · Costume Design Mark is the owner and designer at the multi award winning independent boutique Disorder in Birmingham. As an artist, Mark has fully committed his life work to fashion. His works are largely inspired by the human body and the distortion of it’s image. He designed the costumes for as his first dance collaboration.

Horne Horneman · Lighting Design Horne trained in classical ballet at Dutch National Ballet Academy and enjoy a long dance career before becoming a light designer. Since 2010 he has worked as a technician in SaT (Sant Andreu Teatre de Barcelona). He started working with Humanhood since the start, designing lights for the short duet 'The Masks Behind Doors' and group commissioned piece 'Loose Strings’.

Iain Armstrong · Sound Design & Composition Iain is a Scottish composer and sound artist who has been based in Birmingham, UK since 1998. Iain currently works as a freelance composer and sound artist. He is a co-director of SOUNDkitchen a non-profit company dedicated to the promotion of artists working in the field of sound. He performs laptop solos, as one half of Anvil & Stirrup and as part of the SOUNDkitchen collective.

.COLLABORATORS.

Gyda Valtysdottir and Shahzad Ismaily · Music Gyda is an Icelandic composer, cellist and songwriter, a founding member of Icelandic world-known band ‘múm’. Armed with cello & bow she has her own approach to contemporary music working mainly in improvisation, she has worked with Oscar nominee & Golden Globe winner Jóhann Jóhannsson. Shahzad was born to Pakistani immigrant parents and grew up in a wholly bicultural household. While he holds a masters degree in Biochemistry from Arizona State University, he is a largely self-taught composer and musician, having mastered the electric and double bass, guitar, banjo, accordion, flute, various analog synthesisers and drum machines. Ismaily has recorded or performed with an incredibly diverse assemblage of musicians, including Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, Laura Veirs, Bonnie Prince Billy, to name just a few.

Lou Cope · Dramaturgy Lou is an experienced dramaturge, writer, lecturer & workshop leader. She has work with artists on productions including Gary Clarke (‘COAL’), Jose Agudo (‘KI’ & ‘Thousand Shepherds’) and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (‘Myth’).

Prof. William Chaplin · Science & Physics Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham and expert on seismic study of stars, in particular the Sun and other Sun-like stars in our Galaxy that also host planets (Asteroseismology/Helioseismology). Prof. Chaplin leads the "Sun, Stars and Exoplanets" research group and the BiSON Helioseismology programme, as well as having International leadership positions in the NASA Kepler, K2 and TESS Missions.

Alex Forster · Music Alex Forster has worked for recording studios such as The Chapel Studios and Abbey Rd and in production for the Sonar festival, ITV, BBC and National Geographic. As a music producer and video director he has worked with Radiohead, Pink floyd, Baaba Maal, Evellyn Glennie and Faithless among others.

Photography by Donata Kukyté

Humanhood email . info@humanhood.net

Website . www.humanhood.net

Facebook . www.facebook.com/humanhooddance

Twitter . @humanhooddance

.Contact.

Photography by Donata Kukyté and Paul Ward