As resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet and artistic director of Random Dance, Wayne Mcgregor has made a reputation of subverting traditions. In his fifth work for the Royal Ballet Carbon Life, he placed the lithe dancers of the Royal into bold and angular costumes by Gareth Pugh and set the choreography to music by Mark Ronson. His project with the Rain Room installation by Random International at the Barbican Curve Gallery continues to attract attention and excitement for a choreographer who is clearly willing to push the boundaries of what dance is, and can be. In the Rain Room, people can walk through falling rain and not get wet through the use of sensors. Mcgregor takes it a step further by having dancers from Random Dance perform movement sequences around viewers in the installation itself. The work allows greater proximity and interaction between viewers and dancers. The dancers share the viewer’s space, moving around, behind, beside and in front of the viewer, creating intimacy and inclusiveness. As put by the Dancing Review, “Everyone’s a performer in the Rain Room.”

Find out more about Random Dance here and read a review of the installation here!

Photo credit: Christopher Pledger