In May 2022, as part of the Dreams 360 programme, Figures in Extinction [1.0] marked the beginning of a four year collaboration between English director Simon McBurney and his company Complicté, choreographer Crystal Pite and NDT. Later that year the piece won the coveted Zwaan (Swan) award for the most impressive dance production at the Nederlandse Dansdagen Gala in Maastricht. The McBurney/Pite/NDT partnership was one convened in heaven and promised the exciting prospect of things to come. FiE[2] carried the project a step further when it was premiered in February 2024 in the triple-bill From Here Now Far. The presentation of Figures in Extinction [3.0] marks the culmination of this extraordinary trilogy which is now being performed in its entirety.
Figures in Extinction is essentially about the trials and tribulations of life in the twenty-first century and the pressures and restrictions we all face, where separation from our true nature adds to our alienation and isolation. We are lead to believe that one way or another, the end of the worlds is nigh – but then history shows it always has been. But one thing is for sure, the end of the world for each of us individually is bound to come and the millions who are dispossessed, starving or innocent victims of violence will tell you it already has.
The evening starts, rather predictably, with the first tranche of the trilogy. We are taken through a sequence of tableaux highlighting the plight of endangered animals and birds, each one announced with a surtitle caption – Figure I, Figure 4 and so on, like being at a scientific lecture. The first cameo was almost the most dramatic, inspired by the Pyrenean ibex which became extinct in 2000. This amazing piece involved a single male dancer with two enormous ibex-type horns on his arms. The plight of several more species is highlighted but in the interest of balance and fair play we were also subjected to the occasional rant by a rather flashy climate change denier. Powerful and thought provoking stuff, beautifully presented with some amazing reflective light backdrops.
The action in Figures in Extinction [2.0] starts dramatically enough with the curtain rising onto a silent stage, the twenty dancers all wearing smart grey suits and ties sitting in orderly rows of office chairs. Predictably, they start checking their phones – a not insignificant cause of human isolation – their faces illuminated by the glow. They listen to the radio.
Figures in Extinction [2.0] is essentially built around the spoken word to which the dancers react. This emphasis on text is perhaps not surprising from Mr McBurney whose main work is in drama. The piece is effectively an animated lecture extracted from The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist. The premise is that our society is suffering from the consequences of an over-dominant left hemisphere of the brain, losing touch with its natural regulative half on the right – not much we can do about that I would have thought. Now, this might sound fairly heavy going, even esoteric stuff, but Mr McBurney skilfully introduces a lot of humour to the proceedings and handles it with a light touch which draws the audience in and keeps it enthralled.
During the constant, seamless flow of movement the dancers each lip-syncs to the odd sentence or passage and at one point one of the dancers gets out his phone and films the action up close and personal, the pictures projected live onto the back wall. Towards the end a subtle revolution takes place, suits and ties are cast off, the slender stalks of freedom are grasped and signs of emotionally tenderness are witnessed.
For those who are regular visitors to NDT productions the first two parts of Figures in Extinction may bring on a déjà vu moment. With part three we were entering unexplored territory and needed to keep our wits about us.
In this world, as Benjamin Franklin said, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes. Maybe there is a show to be built around the latter but Figures in Extinction [3] deals with the former – and very thoroughly too.
The curtain rises to reveal the company of twenty-three dancers, dressed in their street clothes standing in a neat line across the stage. They take it in turn to step forward giving their name and family details before the piece starts in earnest. As in FiE[1], [3] is performed to text by English renaissance man John Berger, spoken by a plethora of distinguished British actors. We were informed, in graphic detail, of the stages of decay that a dead body goes through and lots more besides.
Although mostly performed in the ubiquitous black-box décor, possibly the best sequence involved a small hospital room with a dying patient in bed surrounded by relatives and medical staff. There is a very funny sequence when two male nurses have to change/remove the sheet from the bed with minimum discomfort to its occupant.
The dénouement was performed in front of giant cloud-like projections reminiscent of images from the Hubble space telescope. These swirling shapes could have been interpreted as the death of the universe or its birth. Powerful stuff. With Figures in Extinction McBurney and Pite have created a magnificent and important piece of theatre which no doubt will be performed near and far in years to come.
But what of our fate? Maybe it’s not too late and things can be done to correct the imbalance in nature. Or maybe nature, in its constant state of flux can look after itself. The very soil on which we live and our sustenance grows is the consequence of decaying animal and plant life over millions of years. Yes, the world will end as everything else surely will, but it is incumbent on us to delay that process as long as possible. But perhaps, with recent events in the United States, the decline of flora and fauna, along with changes to the climate, have ceased to be the main danger to the world as we know it. Since Figures in Extinction was conceived events have moved on and our fate seems even more precarious than it was just a few short weeks ago. Complacency and inaction are our real enemies. As William Shakespeare wisely said, “Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends.” Michael Hasted 28th February 2025
FIGURES IN EXTINCTION continues on tour until 29th March
