Figures in Extinction at Aviva Studios
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Two of the most distinctive creators – choreographer Crystal Pite and Complicité theatre director Simon McBurney – will present a thrilling and timely world premiere at Manchester’s Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, in February 2025.
Figures in Extinction [3.0] is the third and final instalment in an award-winning triptych of dance. The never-seen-before part three will be presented – alongside parts one and two – for the first time in Manchester early next year, meaning Northern audiences will be among the first to experience the Figures in Extinction series in its entirety.
Shining a light on humanity’s impact on the natural world, Figures in Extinction offers a performative meditation on the natural world and our connection to it. Exploring themes of ecological decline and biodiversity through narratives of extinction, the work seeks to engage its audience in a deeper understanding of the environmental crisis, inspiring a call to arms. Presented by Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) and Complicité, the striking show will be performed by the world-class NDT 1 dancers.
We are living in an age of extinction. Can we ever hope to give a name to what we are losing? What does it mean to bear witness to a violence in which we are both perpetrator and victim?
The first piece, Figures in Extinction [1.0], which was awarded a top prize for a dance production at the 2022 Nederlandse Dansdagen, offers an urgent examination of species and environments we have lost or are losing; while the second work [2.0], which premiered in February 2024, presents a searing drive for connection in a divided world.
The third and final work is set to continue the conversation through a blend of dance, video and spoken word. Offering a flicker of hope in the darkness as to where – collectively, spiritually and imaginatively – we might go next.
Across continents and over a period of four years, these two world-renowned artists have created these three works together, each piece developed as a response to the last. Exchanging a range of ideas, fears and hopes, Figures in Extinction has been shaped by some rich and surprising source materials – everything from the sound of ice caps melting and the discordant clatter of social media influencers, to lectures on neuroscience and the chants of climate crisis deniers.
Co-commissioned by Factory International, it’s a real honour that Figures in Extinction [3.0] will be revealed – for the first time – at Aviva Studios before it heads out on a tour of the Netherlands through 2025. Don’t miss out.
