close-up

Original Version

A luscious and playful work, Close-Up employs a movement language mixing robust dance phrases with gestures and facial expressions. The contrast between the large scale and the intimate scale of the material pulls the eye’s focus back and forth between the breadth of the full stage space to the intimacy of the gestures, from the thrill of an expansive leap to the minutia of a beckoning finger. The dancers’ interactions with each other and the three set pieces create at times playful and humorous scenarios. With this work, the viewer is stimulated by the boldness of the dancing and at the same moment is brought ‘close-up’ to the material, experiencing a window into the performer's emotional landscape. With a richly textured and at times melodic musical score by composer Andreas Brade and a visually arresting stage design by Andrew Jordan—costumes with the dancers’ images printed on the fabric paired with a three-piece set—this work beguiles and amuses.

Event Version

Can be performed in alternative sites including museums and art galleries

This version of Close-Up was originally created for performance in a museum space, within the gallery spaces next to and “close-up” to the artwork. Cornfield has created additional material for this site-specific work, using the same themes of the dance, so that it can be executed within a confined spatial footprint and added to parts of the material from the original stage piece.