The audio-track – and you – progress from a frenetic pace through a stage-by-stage process of deceleration, ending in a complete stop and stillness.
The narration anchors your perceptions in two complementary directions – your external environment, and the sensations of your body – and focuses attention on the ways in which these two universes impact each other.
The mover receives compassion and humour from the narration throughout, alongside prompts to reflect on how the rhythms of your body and emotions, in conversation with the rhythms of the outside world, are products of and contributors to the social and political systems that frame your experience of space and body.
The mover feels the literal slowing towards a stop acting as an embodied metaphor for a psychological or spiritual process of taking stock, allowing time for response, listening, and noticing oneself.
The soundscape explicitly progresses through decelerating bpm stages, to tap into the body’s innate responses to music and rhythm, sonically enriching the self-reflective and social commentary of the narration.
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About the Organizers
ZU-UK is an award-winning theatre and digital arts company based in Liverpool and East London. Founded by immigrant working-class artists Persis Jadé Maravala and Jorge Lopes Ramos, ZU are recognised as pioneers of immersive and interactive theatre creating experiences using performance, games and technology. Jadé is ethnically Persian, born in Yemen, raised in East London. Jorge was born within one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favelas to a Polish-Romanian family. In a world where mainstream narratives normalise hate and fear, Jadé and Jorge believe in the need for shared rituals, new narratives and experiences that empower the most vulnerable to experience culture and to make excellent art.