Larsen C is not your typical contemporary dance show. Inspired by the slow, imperceptible movement of a 10,000-year-old Antarctic ice shelf, this performance transforms human bodies into glacial forces, shifting and evolving in eerie synchrony.
Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos has crafted a mesmerising yet unsettling experience. One that captures the beauty of nature in a profoundly dark and haunting way. Perhaps also encapsulating, with a nod, towards global warming and the destruction it is causing to the ice caps around the world.
From the very first moment, Larsen C challenges expectations. The opening scene is stripped bare of music, leaving only a single dancer on stage with his back turned to the audience. A solitary spotlight casts an ethereal glow on his silhouette, rendering him almost otherworldly—more creature than human. This eerie beginning sets the tone for what follows: an ensemble of dancers moving as one, seamlessly switching between fluid grace and fragmented, stuttered motions.
As the performance progresses, the immersion deepens. In the final act, the theatre becomes enveloped in thick smoke, blurring the line between dancers and space. A clever trick of the light creates breathtaking and unsettling illusions, reinforcing the dreamlike, almost nightmarish, quality of the work.
Gloomy, eerie, and profoundly affecting, Larsen C is a dance performance that lingers in the mind. If you’re looking for a traditional ballet or upbeat dance performance, this is not it.
But if you crave something unconventional, something that makes you think and feel on a deeper level, this hypnotic meditation on time, movement, and change is worth experiencing.