An Abyss
Philipp Rumsch
immersive Sound- und Tanzperformance 01.01.23
An abyss is a new, collaborative work by dancers & choreographers Sophie Vergères (CH), David Lagerqvist (SWE) and myself. The full- length, immersive piece combines elements from concert, dance, performance and sound installation — premiered in a unique 3D audio setup at ZiMMT Leipzig in October 2023.
The starting point for An abyss is my research about the multiple crises of our time and the effects on our society and environment. Unlike my concert piece ARCADIA — a composition commissioned by the German National Library, which I premiered in May 2023 — in which I drew a utopian alternative to reality, we now deal directly with our patterns of action and the condition of crisis around us. In various images, Sophie Vergères, David Lagerqvist and me depict dramatic states of repetition, chaos, fatigue and powerlessness but also their opposing forces.
An abyss was developed by us over a long period of time and is the result of an intensive search for interdisciplinary possibilities of expression. Movement and sound intertwine in an unusual way. Sound becomes space by being placed in a multichannel sound setup and thus triggers movement. At the same time, hearing is changed directly through physical action using modern performance controllers.
After Sophie Vergères and I had already realized the full-length dance piece Dekarnation and the short film WE together, An Abyss is the first joint work by the three of us.
Concept & performance – Sophie Vergères, David Lagerqvist, Philipp Rumsch
Choreography – Sophie Vergères, David Lagerqvist
Music composition & production – Philipp Rumsch
Light design – Jacob Miseler