TORUS
A return to the tribal
Torus
Imagine a circle that rotates around an axis with a point anchored in the same plane. A three-dimensional figure is drawn: this figure is commonly known as a donut for its shape. It is found everywhere in nature, from an apple to the Earth’s magnetic field, and described in Eastern practices as the energetic field: Torus.
This piece is a journey that starts far out in the cosmos and implodes into planet Earth where a communal rhythm is shared and expressed by humans, merging HUMANHOOD’s energetic synergy and physical vocabulary into a tribal hurricane of effortless fluidity. Light, movement and sound are at the core of a show in which the perception of time is altered to recreate a world where rhythm becomes visual, sonic and kinaesthetic.
For this production, Rudi and Julia interacted with the Taiwanese percussion group Ten Drum, at their base in Tainan City (Taiwan). During the one-month residency, they learned and exchanged rhythmic patterns and recorded the tribal and earthly sounds played using traditional gongs and drums to fuse with Birmingham-based electronic duo EIF, creating an entrancing original sound score.
They also expanded the concepts of the piece alongside their ongoing collaboration with the Physics & Astrophysics Department at Birmingham University, through immersive observation, movement sessions, and shared perspectives about the toroidal flow within sections of the piece.
Artists
Concept, direction and choreography
Julia Robert and Rudi Cole
Music Composition
Kamil Boguslawski and Kamil Ilcewicz (EIF)
Set Design
Concept by HUMANHOOD, built by ARTEM
Costume Design
Mark Howard
Tom Visser
Lighting Design
Music Mastering
Alex Forster
Tone & Rhythmic Voices
Julia Robert & Rudi Cole
Huang Zhiwei (Ten Drum Art Percussion Group) & Rudi Cole recorded at Ten Drum Cultural Centre, Taiwan
Percussion
Selected Performances
Festival Sismògraf in Olot
2019, Catalonia
Patrick Centre
2019, Birmingham
DanceCity
2019, Newcastle
The Lowry
2019, Manchester
Festival Grec de Barcelona
2019, Barcelona
Pams Link/SIDance in Seoul
2019, S.Korea
Catch us on Tour
“'Pure Vision... Torus reverberates like a mantra'”
- M.Rebull / Teatre Barcelona
Partners
Commissioned by
Birmingham Dance Hub, DanceXchange and Sadler's Wells
Researched as part of
Choreodrome (The Place)
Funded by
Arts Council England
In collaboration with
Birmingham University Physics and Astrophysics Department
Supported by
La Caldera, RocaUmbert
“The quality of the whole dance amounted to one of the best pieces of contemporary dance I have seen in a long while. So simple in all its complexity.”
- Lyn Matthews / British Theatre Review
“Magnificent, organic, magnetic”
- N. Cañamares / Recomana.cat
“Humanhood style draws from science and spirituality and seems connected to the ancient yet completely modern and thrilling”
- P. Jacobs / Dance Hub Review UK
Bookings
For more information contact info@humanhood.net
