Climate change is all around us, from the increasing forest fires in the summer to deep freezes in the winter, and it’s piqued Gerry Morita’s interest. Her latest piece, The Real Disaster Show, is built around the themes of climate disaster. Using different scenarios, the choreographer pits dancers against elements like wind, melting ice and forest fires.
“The type of dance that I do really draws from natural elements as movement sources. So it seemed like a really easy evolution to start to think about what happens when these natural elements get out of balance,” says Morita, artistic director of Mile Zero Dance. “It’s almost a science fiction look at the last humans and how powerful nature is.”
Morita started working on The Real Disaster Show in late 2020 and the show was virtually presented by Mile Zero Dance shortly after. The virtual show was done with lots of solo work between dancers because they weren’t able to be in the same room together. This time around, there’s more emphasis on connection.
“We’ve gotten more internal connections between the different performers this time and I think our use of the space is also different because we’re not thinking about the camera’s point of view, we’re thinking about an audience,” says Morita. “We’re really inviting the audience to travel around and check out different perspectives in the space, kind of like how you would look at visual art.”
The Real Disaster Show is on April 29 and April 30 at MTFAVA Production Studio, located at 10045 156 St NW. Tickets are $25.
