Eraker & Schellekens
About
A dance performance based on the afterimage effect.
Optical illusion in movement
After Image is a piece on the edge between dance and light art. It’s a choreography for two dancers and three stroboscopes – based on the optical illusion of the same name. This illusion causes a bright image to remain visible on the retina after the actual view is gone.
In the performance the movement is not only made visible by the light but is actually shaped by it. The stroboscopic light frames the movement into series of images which might or might not be the actual action of the dancers. The dance and light interact and challenge each other constantly.
After Image has an actual physical impact on the spectator because the effect is generated by his own eyes. In a minimalistic, almost ritual beginning the audience is slowly sucked in and gets used to the effect. Afterwards the piece climaxes into an explosive and overwhelming ending.
After Image was first developed in 2010 by Janne Eraker (choreography) and Jorg Schellekens (light design), working together in an attempt to find a synthesis between dance and light. It was performed by dancers Ans Kanen and Anka Majcher and first presented at the Open Dans festival, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Credits
Concept: Janne Eraker & Jorg Schellekens
Dance: Ans Kanen, Anka Majcher
Choreography: Janne Eraker
Light and sound design: Jorg Schellekens
Costume design: Piem Wirtz
Première
4 June 2010, LP II (Rotterdam, NL)