What happens when the human body meets an increasingly digital world? In Strangely Familiar, choreographer Kuik Swee Boon appears to explore this question through a series of shifting images and ideas, creating something that feels like a visual notebook of reflections on the relationship between the human body and technology.
The work moves between contrasting ideas of the physical and the digital, repeatedly changing its focus as though turning through different pages of a sketchbook.
When Technology Amplifies the Human Body
The performance initially presents technology and the human body as complementary forces.
Behind a translucent screen, the five dancers appear as interconnected figures, their bodies illuminated by projections created by the design duo Vividly, comprising Jay Lee and Jay Lei. The projected images resemble flames or glowing auras that seem to rise directly from the dancers.
At first, the technology enhances rather than overwhelms the performers. The projections extend the dancers’ movements, creating an impression of harmony between the physical and digital worlds.
That balance, however, soon begins to fracture.
Glitches interrupt the previously peaceful imagery, with sharp angles and fragmented forms gradually invading the projections. The digital elements become increasingly dominant until they eventually cover the dancers almost completely.
The work then shifts towards another line of thought, considering cultural heritage and the ways in which environments influence and shape people.
When the dancers eventually emerge from behind the screen, the relationship between body and technology remains unsettled. The performers and projections compete for visual attention within an increasingly crowded digital landscape.
An indistinct, amorphous figure then emerges. Its presence feels intrusive, almost like an irritating digital entity attempting to impose itself upon the dancers. Just as suddenly, however, it breaks apart and disappears.
The attention returns to the dancers, whose coordinated movement once again highlights one of T.H.E.’s greatest strengths: the collective physicality and connection between its performers.
Performers Bring the Work Back to the Body
Greek newcomer Michail Logothetis-Alafragkis is particularly striking. His performance takes on an almost animalistic quality as he drives his powerful arms into the floor and moves aggressively on all fours.
He keeps the other dancers at a distance, while his intense, feral stare fixes directly on the audience. The physical force of his performance creates one of the evening’s most compelling moments.
Another standout is Filipino company dance artist Klievert Mendoza, whose performance is marked by a much more emotionally nuanced quality.
Mendoza moves through a range of sensations and states, shifting from curiosity to discomfort, frustration, and eventually acceptance. His increasingly breathless panting fills the darkness, leaving a strong physical impression as this section comes to an end.
The work then introduces two additional figures, further expanding its exploration of different forms of presence.
Guest performer Zelia ZZ Tan appears almost like a presence that is simultaneously there and absent. Her voice moves between Hunan dialect, Cantonese and Mandarin, adding another layer to the work’s exploration of identity and cultural memory.
Her image first appears enlarged and indistinct before gradually becoming more defined. Eventually, a life-sized, child-like figure emerges, appearing vulnerable and lost as it enters into a physical exchange with the dancers.
A Constantly Shifting Digital Landscape
The continual movement between different ideas and manifestations of technology can eventually become demanding for the audience.
Just as one visual or conceptual thread begins to establish itself, the work moves elsewhere, producing a sense of restlessness as the different digital forms accumulate.
The arrival of Agaya/Roo, however, draws attention back to the stage.
A humanoid, glass-like avatar inspired by the Hollow Body Methodology, Agaya/Roo introduces another perspective on the relationship between humans and technology. Rather than functioning solely as an external digital object, the figure suggests technology as a reflection of humanity itself.
This becomes one of the more intriguing ideas within Strangely Familiar. Technology is not simply positioned as something separate from the human body. Instead, it can also act as a mirror, revealing aspects of ourselves and the ways we respond to what we create.
Yet the relationship remains deliberately uncertain.
When Technology Remains on the Surface
Strangely Familiar was commissioned by Asia+ Festival and Singapore International Festival of Arts.
The work’s original venue would have provided a more immersive audience experience than the raised proscenium stage of Victoria Theatre. The physical distance between the performers and audience is particularly significant here because T.H.E.’s Hollow Body methodology typically relies on creating a strong kinaesthetic response between bodies on stage and those watching them.
At Victoria Theatre, that connection is more difficult to achieve. The separation between performer and audience reduces some of the physical immediacy that the company’s methodology can generate, while the enlarged digital avatar does not have quite the impact it might have in a more immersive setting.
Even so, there are moments when the performers establish genuine sensitivity and connection.
The sound design by Kent Lee, spatialised by Guo Ningru, also plays an important role in directing the audience’s attention. At one point, sound seems to emerge from behind the audience, drawing attention to the surrounding physical space. At another, it recedes into a faint crackle within the set, reinforcing the impression of a digital presence.
These details demonstrate how sound can manipulate the audience’s awareness of both physical and digital environments.
An Unresolved Relationship Between Dance and Technology
Ultimately, Strangely Familiar approaches the idea of technology with curiosity, but its relationship with the digital elements remains somewhat tentative.
The work touches on ideas of the uncanny and the monstrous other, suggesting a world in which technology can become unfamiliar, intrusive or even unsettling. However, the technology does not always feel fully integrated with the choreography.
Instead, the projections and digital elements can come across as visually attractive additions layered over the movement rather than active collaborators within the choreographic process.
This distinction is important because the strongest moments of Strangely Familiar remain those in which the audience is drawn back to the physical presence of the dancers.
The work ultimately leaves its relationship with technology deliberately unresolved. Like the mirror it places before humanity, it reveals an ambivalent attitude towards the digital world: fascinated by its possibilities, yet not entirely convinced of how deeply it should become embedded within the body.
There are moments of real sensitivity, compelling physicality and striking visual design. Yet the work leaves the relationship between dance and technology deliberately, and perhaps frustratingly, unresolved.
Read the Original Article: T.H.E. Dance Company’s Strangely Familiar a sketchbook of musings on relationship between body and technology
