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Pixel

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Pixel, an hour-long immersive dance show co-created by Mourad Merzouki, one of France’s most prolific choreographers, alongside Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne, two innovative digital arts designers. Far from just a spectacle of brilliant, technically impressive contemporary dance (although it is that, too), the performance encompasses light, sound and advanced technology to take the dancers to another world, bringing the audience with them. The stage appears to grow as light projections create moving landscapes that remove the traditional four walls of the theatre. Meanwhile artists are battling digital rain with umbrellas and contorting themselves along seemingly moving floors through ingenious choreography.

“When Mourad met Adrien and Claire, they had this vision to really create a fusion between the digital age and contemporary dance; they’ve certainly achieved their goal,” laughs James McPherson, General Manager of Vass Productions, who are bringing Pixel to Melbourne for its Australian premiere.

The cast in Pixel are as diverse as you can find – from all over France, they are trained in disciplines as wide as contemporary dance, hip hop and circus arts: the choreography reflecting the variety of talents and shaping Mondot and Bardainne’s virtual world around them.

Since its inception and first performance just outside of Paris in late 2014, Pixel has toured almost non-stop for two years. From Italy to Israel and now all the way down to Australia, the show moves quickly – an impressive feat given how much technology there is to trek across the world and set up.

“Our company only flew into Melbourne last night after other shows,” McPherson explains. “It’s a rather large set because of all the digital aspects, and that’s been getting bumped in over the past few days. So everyone will be in Melbourne as of today, and over the next couple of days they’ll be rehearsing and getting the show ready to open on Wednesday night.

“Because they’ve been on tour for a number of years and we’ve still got the whole original cast of 11 touring, they’re able to come into a space and have the show up and pulled together within about 72 hours.”

The stage at Her Majesty’s Theatre has proven just the right fit for Pixel – where theatre adaptation is hugely important, given the scale of the digital set and lighting that needs to be perfect, right to the centimetre.

“The designers are world-class, and being able to work it so that it can adapt to different spaces was really important in designing it. Every theatre does have its nuances, but in principle most of the spaces are easily adaptable,” McPherson says.

“The main thing is thinking about where the audience would best be able to appreciate the performance – because the show encompasses all parts of the stage, from the floor through to the backdrop and the ceiling – so you need to think about that when you’re selecting theatres.”

Merzouki is almost a celebrity in his own right, particularly in his native France. He founded the dance company Käfigin 1996, which has gone on to perform 25 shows in over 700 cities, seen by over a million people. An officer in the Ordre des arts et des lettres, a Knight of the Legion of Honour and recipient of the Medal of Honour from the city of Lyon, his services to dance – before and since creating Pixel – are innumerable.

It’s certainly a world-class dance show with a difference. The only real shame is that Pixel is coming exclusively to Melbourne, and for one week only.

BY MATILDA EDWARDS