Figures in Extinction - NDT 1

Associate choreographer Crystal Pite and Complicité Artistic Director Simon McBurney, each on a different continent, exchanged ideas about both their fears and their tentative hopes for our times. Their process is based on a rich and surprising collection of sources: from the sound of melting ice caps to the loud protests of climate deniers, from neuroscience lectures about the brain to the cacophonous chatter of Instagram influencers.

Over a period of four years, the two world-renowned artists jointly created three works for NDT 1, each developed in response to the previous one. Figures in Extinction [1.0] confronts us with everything that is dying on our planet, while [2.0] is a penetrating examination of our need for connection in a divided world. The third and final work continues this interdisciplinary exchange, with a world premiere in the UK at the Manchester International Festival in February 2025. This work offers a glimmer of light in the darkness for where we – collectively, spiritually and imaginatively – may be heading to go.