Placebo
A room full of expectation, suggestion and infectious rhythm. What is fake and what is real?
Seven dancers reckon with the placebo effect – attempting a series of experiments to discover what gives them pleasure and what dulls their pain. Movements are repackaged, distorted, multiplied and abandoned, propelled by a rich original score that sweeps mischievously from euphoric club tracks to classical fugues.
Placebo draws on research into the “placebo response”, a measurable effect which occurs when a person is given a treatment considered “fake” or “inactive” but experiences an improvement in health regardless. This production layers light, sound and movement to invite us to question how framing and expectation affect our experiences.
Placebo features text from legendary performance artist Peggy Shaw.
For the 2018 premiere of Placebo, an accompanying series of events entitled The Power of Placebo brought together scientists, artists, ethicists and anthropologists in order to explore how attitudes, beliefs, relationships, rituals and environments can affect our health.
Suzy Willson - Direction; Paul Clark - Music; Art School - Costume; Hansjörg Schmidt - Lighting; Peggy Shaw - ‘My Lonely Lungs’ monologue; Stephen Brown - Dramaturgical Consultant; Christopher Akrill - Rehearsal Director
Manuel Vason - Lead Image; Camilla Greenwell & Hugo Glendinning - Additional Images; Lisa Cazzato Vieyra - Video (images inside header)
Brian Caillet; Chihiro Kawasaki; Elisabeth Schilling; Nathan Goodman; Omar Gordon; Valerie Ebuwa; Yen-Ching Lin
Rachele Rapisardi; Ino Riga; Leon Baugh; Jonathan Baker; Sam Coren; Maëva Berthelot; Riccardo T.; Nicolas Ricchini; Titilayo Adebayo; Anders Duckworth; James Finnemore; Roseanna Anderson; Taylor Han; students at London Contemporary School of Dance; Professor Jon Stone; Bridge Co.; Amy Shelton; Simone Stewart; Wales Millennium Centre; Cardiff Dance Festival
The Lowry, Salford (part of Manchester Science Festival)
11, 12, 13 October 2018
Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton
16, 17 October 2018
Derelict at UCLan, Preston
19, 20 October 2018
The Place, London
30 October - 10 November 2018
“Smart and funny”
★★★★ The Guardian
“Clod Ensemble always pushes the boundaries of what dance can be, and this is no exception”
★★★★ The Londonist
“[P]layfully deconstructs [contemporary dance] with wit, humour and intelligence”
★★★★ The Reviews Hub
“Paul Clark’s score is sublime, layering multi-instrumental textures, beats, and tightly synchronised samples of the voices”
Seeing Dance
The Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation; The Foyle Foundation; Arts Council England
