Choreographer Menghan Lou probe the experience of reality as opposed to the experience of dreams, through the use of live and filmed dance, music, light and shadows. Lou notes that his source of inspiration is his dreams. “I dream a lot and my dreams always seem to be completely disconnected from each other. I am fascinated by how dreams can feel, even when they are so blatantly nonsensical.”

The lighting suggests the aesthetics of ‘film noir’, expressive images in black and white (with scale of greys) and strong contrast between illuminated and shadowed details. The filmed imagery, the shadowed dancers ‘stepping into’ the film, and the live dance on stage bring a sense of homogeneity and continuum through visual similarity between the film, the set and the costumes. The lighting design was a central element in blending not only the different aesthetics, but also in blending the representation of dream and reality into each other.