Wayne McGregor brings more neuroscientists and experimental psychologists to Sadler's Wells than the average choreographer. His work around the dancing body pushes the boundaries between art, architecture, animation and live performance (there’s currently a terrific exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, drawing on research into creativity he and his company Random have been involved in over the past decade).
His latest piece, based on the relationship between atoms, is a dialogue between collectivism and individual will. Ten extraordinary young dancers, clad in costumes by digital skin designers Studio XO, show how atoms bond to achieve stability; stealing electrons from each other; even giving them up to preserve group unity (not unlike a troupe of dancers making a work together).
McGregor admits that a famous Eighties sci-fi film is a key reference for the tonal colours and projections of the piece. We watch as dancers turn from exquisite creatures to mutant beings — flipping over each other, coiling in strange, double-jointed geometries to preserve the atomic structure. True, Atomos is cool, cerebral — in contrast to McGregor’s more emotional works such as Infra, based on the 7/7 bombings. But the ambition of the piece compels.
Until Sat (020 7863 8198, sadlerswells.com)
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