We Are The World
Imogen Reeve & Co. presents We Are The World by Imogen Reeve
This thrilling trio of works from choreographer Imogen Reeve blends hyper -femininity, science fiction, and pop culture to blistering effect. Through sharp choreography, surreal imagery, and a distinct artistic voice, the works explore what it means to be human - or nearly human - in a world shaped by consumerism, technology, and artifice.
Post Truth Whatever
Set inside a post-Thatcher startup dreamscape, Post Truth Whatever is a chilling look at ambition, ego, and perfection in a late-capitalist age. Wrapped in pink tailoring and coral gloss, three performers dazzle with airbrushed smiles - but beneath the surface, something is quietly unravelling. As the trio fights their own contradictions through jolting, stylised movement, their sleek façade begins to crack. Writhing, folding, collapsing - these modern sirens of industry lure us into a streamlined future, raising the question: what is lost in the pursuit of success? A glittery, lipstick-stained opening to a digital-age epic
Discopia
In a post-disaster now, three space-age explorers land on a barren Earth strewn with the detritus of our pop-culture past. Channelling video vixens, cheerleaders, and hyper-glam icons, they dig through a landfill of clichés — scavenging and seducing in equal measure. With undulating solos and eerie, animalistic precision, the dancers navigate a scorched consumerist legacy. A surreal romp through nostalgia and excess, Discopia exposes what remains when the party ends and the planet burns.
We Are the World
Fast forward to a glittering, post-human future where cyborg nymphs perform the rites of a new culture. With twitchy smiles, contorting torsos, and weaponised hair flips, this trio dances a shimmering lineage of femininity passed down through centuries of beauty pageants and pop icons. Equal parts uncanny and divine, We Are the World imagines a future shaped by AI and glam — a post - brat, Philip K. Dick-esque vision of what it means to inherit a culture built on performance.
ARTISTIC TEAM:
IDEA AND DIRECTION: Imogen Reeve
CHOREOGRAPHY: Imogen Reeve in collaboration with the performers
PERFORMERS: Allegra Vistalli, Jorden Brooks, Hannah Durkan
SCENERY: Imogen Reeve
SOUND: Devon Bonelli
COSTUME DESIGN, COSTUME REALIZATION: Imogen Reeve, Rosie Whiting
LIGHTING DESIGN: Charlotte Woods
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Charlotte Woods
PRODUCER: Natalie Richardson, Callum Holt
WITH THE HELP OF: Arts Council England, Yorkshire Dance, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, The Middle Floor
Reviews
We Are the World sees three women in pale pink negligee, their dance a slow sensual prowl, deliberately voluptuous, but interrupted by droid-like glitches. A comely smile starts to spread on one woman’s face then suddenly jolts to neutral as if someone pressed the reset button. Choreographer Imogen Reeve has absolutely committed to a vibe, a weird, eerie/dreamy one at that, this trio of sirens like the Virgin Suicides meets Ex Machina.
The stand out piece of the night comes from Excessive Human Collective. Taking feminist theorist Donna Haraway’s musings on cyborgs as a point of departure, We Are The World sees dancers Allegra Vistalli, Jorden Brooks, and Hannah Durkan punctuate torso undulations, lioness-like crawls, and effortless leg extensions with glitch-like jolts and shudders. While their vacant eyes and suggestively open-mouthed expressions are reminiscent of idealised female avatars seen online, their toga-like dresses and relaxed, asymmetrical poses evoke Classical painting and sculpture. By alluding to both the historical and contemporary, choreographer Imogen Reeve cleverly suggests that male fantasies continue to place unrealistic, reductive expectations on women. When will the glitches become so overwhelming that we finally break free from them?
Emily May, The Place
Excessive Human Collective’s sci-fi romp through the pink void is an enigmatic exploration of femininity for the ChatGPT generation. We Are The World is bold and dynamic, oscillating between the natural and the uncanny. Choreographer Imogen Reeve shows some curious innovations with the AI aesthetic in the piece, limbs ripple and twitch while faces flicker with unnatural, flirty expressions. Once the dirty bassline kicks in the dancers’ articulations become fuller, punctuating the beat with hair-whips and beauty queen waves. Hannah Durkan is especially magnetic as an eerie robo-Marilyn Monroe. The work is relevant, political but not preachy, even a little cheeky. A Philip K. Dick story in a post-brat world.
Eoin Fenton, The Place
