Arkadi Zaides is celebrated for his theatre and dance works that combine forensic, documentary and choreographic practices. In “The Cloud”, he focuses on one of humanity’s greatest disasters, the reactor accident in Chernobyl. Zaides himself grew up on what is now the border between Belarus and Ukraine, in one of the areas that suffered the worst radioactive contamination. As a result of the reactor accident, his family left the Soviet Union. Even today, the accident and the toxic cloud that spread across Europe are beyond human comprehension. It is precisely here that Zaides sees a connection to the present, to the far-reaching dangers and possibilities of new, difficult-to-grasp technologies that are fuelled by masses of data stored in a cloud. This cloud itself, in the form of an artificial intelligence programmed specifically for this piece, influences the events on stage anew every evening in unpredictable ways. A captivating and intense performance in which the past, facts and fake news are caught up in a ghostly vortex.
Age: recommended from 16 years
Duration: 65 min.
Spoken language: English
Use of stroboscope
Choreography and direction: Arkadi Zaides
Dramaturgy: Igor Dobricic
AI development and sound: Axel Chemla-Romeu-Santos
Cinematography: Artur Castro Freire
Performers: Misha Demoustier, Arkadi Zaides
Light: Jan Mergaert
Technical direction: Etienne Exbrayat
Executive producer: laGeste (BE)
Administration and production: Simge Gücük / Institut des Croisements
Funder and (co)producers: Co-produced by Montpellier Danse (FR), Charleroi Danse (BE), Maison de la Danse (FR), Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (DE), CAMPO (BE) Residency support: PACT Zollverein (DE), Orbita | Spellbound National Production Center for Dance (IT), Dialoghi / Villa Manin, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia (IT). Initial research conducted within the framework of SoundImageCulture (SIC) supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and VAF – Vlaams Audiovisueel Fund. With the support of TMU New York (USA), The Ministry of Culture of France / Directorate General for Artistic Creation (FR), City of Ghent, Flemish Authorities and the Belgian Federal Government's Tax Shelter measure through Flanders Tax Shelter (BE). A residency program as part of A.R.T. research program at La Comédie de Valence, CDN (FR).
Supported within the framework of the Alliance of International Production Houses by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and by the the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture as part of All In - Theater von allen für alle. With friendly support of Freunde und Förderer des Mousonturm e.V.
