“˜Nemesis’ fuses together ballet, animatronics

For most people who enjoy an aesthetic as fluid as ballet,
technology and mechanics seem to reside leagues away from
conventional symbols like tutus and pointe shoes.

But London-based company Random Dance has found a way to merge
the seemingly opposing worlds, using animatronics to convey a new
relationship between technological advances and the world of
ballet.

With Random Dance’s new show “Nemesis,”
choreographer Wayne McGregor, whose name will be recognized in the
credits of the fourth Harry Potter movie, teamed up with Jim
Henson’s Creature Shop to create prosthetic limbs that the
dancers must learn to incorporate into their movements.

Matthias Sperling, who has been with Random Dance since 2003 and
whose credits include an appearance in the film “Billy
Elliot,” sees these extensions as a new way for him to test
his boundaries as a dancer.

“The prosthetics really extend our bodies and offer many
new openings in terms of choreography,” Sperling said.
“They really transform the dancer into a different kind of
being with added possibilities.”

Sperling describes the limbs themselves as resembling a long and
thin fencing sabre, with strange joints at the shoulder and elbow.
They are insect-like in their appearance, bearing a resemblance to
the praying mantis, a metaphor stemming from the Greek myth of
Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, who once sent a plague of
insects to the Greek people.

It is this fusion of cyborg-like machinery with the evocative
art of modern dance that makes “Nemesis” such a unique
experience.

Indeed, one would imagine that for a contemporary dancer,
donning mechanical limb extensions would certainly fall far outside
the realm of an expected rehearsal experience.

“They were quite heavy that first day,” Sperling
laughed, reminiscing. “But it really was amazing how quickly
it became natural. It gave us all a chance to experience something
so new that could potentially be a burden as well.”

For the performers of Random Dance, sporting extremity
augmentations is not the only challenge. The company rehearses for
eight hours a day, five or six days a week. Furthermore, the group
has been on tour for quite some time now, making Royce Hall the
last stop in the United States before leaving for Uzbekistan.

“We have definitely been very busy,” Sperling said.
“But it has also been exciting. With this company, we have
been given the opportunity to tour all over the world.”

While the animatronics of “Nemesis” have helped
Sperling and his fellow dancers transcend their artistic limits,
McGregor certainly has not reached his. The innovative
choreographer is already preparing to astonish the world again with
Random Dance’s next show, “Amu.”

“”˜Amu’ will be a show based on the human
heart,” Sperling said. “(McGregor) will work in
collaboration with a top heart surgeon in London to take scans of
real human hearts and then work with them on a creative
level.”

Such innovative and odd additions to the soft world of ballet
leave many people wondering about the meaning behind the idea of
merging technology and dance. How can a ballet piece benefit from
incorporating sci-fi technology?

“I cannot interpret the piece from the
choreographer’s perspective,” Sperling said. “But
I am pretty sure that there is not supposed to be a flat answer as
to what this piece means. The audience is meant to take an active
role in navigating their own ways through the choreography in the
show, and chart their own path.”