Words by Charlotte Heap / Pics by Moving Productions
Are you in or out of balance? Do you spend every waking moment scrolling on your smart device? Is your virtual existence enhancing or stunting your reality?
Joli Vyann are exploring the impact of society’s obsession with technology on our everyday lives with their latest production, Imbalance – performed at The Patrick Centre on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th April.
Doors open at 8pm with tickets priced at £14, as presented by DanceXchange and Joli Vyann. For direct event info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.
Ex-stuntman Jan Patzke and ex-gymnast Olivia Quale formed Joli Vyann almost five years ago and have been celebrated for their unique fusion of dance and circus: winning the audience prize at the Stockton International Riverside Festival for the dramatically playful Don’t Drink and Dance. The flexible friends now turn their impressive athleticism and acrobatics to a look at our obsessive dependence on technology.
Ah, technology… both the saviour and scourge of society. One can hardly fail to notice that modern life’s every interaction is punctuated by the ping of a mobile phone. There exists, today, a desperate demand for constant entertainment brought to us in more and more convenient forms. It is unassailable that the Internet and technological revolution have changed the way we live, how we interact, and how we think. Alongside the current culture of ‘fake news’, it will be interesting to see how Joli Vyann’s Imbalance tackles this hot topic, asking ‘when and how do we separate ourselves from the virtual chaos surrounding us?’
For Imbalance, the duo are collaborating for the first time with acclaimed choreographer and director Jonathan Lunn, renowned for his work on films Truly, Madly, Deeply and Love Actually.
Individually Jan Patzke and Olivia Quale have impressive credentials, and having worked with many companies and choreographers – including Dragone, Legs on the Wall, Motionhouse and Cirq’ulation Locale – the pair have honed their craft together, performing their blend of dance, circus skills and stunts together for half a decade. Imbalance is their second indoor show, following Stateless in 2015. As Joli Vyann they’ve created a further two well-received outdoor shows, Lance moi en L’air and H2H, and will be reprising the former following the Imbalance tour in France, Graz and Ireland.
Jan Patzke and Olivia Quale have stated that they enjoy “the subtleties and sophistication of lighting and intimate and focused environment” that performing indoors provides. The Patrick Centre, home to DanceXchange and ‘the first dedicated dance space outside of London’, provides an appropriately intimate space for Joli Vyann’s acrobatic spectacle.
Imbalance – Joli Vyann
Imbalance comes to The Patrick Centre on Wed 26th and Thurs 27 April, as presented by Joli Vyann and DanceXchange. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.
For more on Imbalance, visit www.joli-vyann.com/dance-and-theatre-company-performances/imbalance
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For more from Joli Vyann, visit www.joli-vyann.com
For more from DanceXchange, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.dancexchange.org.uk
