Dance

Here not Here

Creation by Maxine Doyle and Es Devlin

A poetic journey of two parts.

Duration
Part 1: ca 40 mins. Part 2: ca 60 mins
Dates
21 Jan — 18 Feb 2022
Number of shows
10
Stage
Göteborg Opera, Main Stage
Genre
Dance
Price
225–450 kr
Accessibility

Someone is missing.  Something is lost. Welcome to the maze! A poetic journey that will take over the whole opera house. Doyle and Devlin's unique collaboration Here not Here is a poetic journey of two parts.

”Exceptional to behold.” (Expressen)
”Doyle is an artist whose work has the potential to change people at their core.” (Expressen)
”A meandering path through memory and imagination.” (Göteborgs-Posten)
”I appreciate the close-contact with these brilliant dancers.” (Göteborgs-Posten)
”Thought-provoking and delightfully eerie” (Aftonbladet)
”Exceptional and interactive.” (Danstidningen)
”Sometime so intense that tears well up in your eyes.” (Alba)
”Choreographic full-body experience.” (Alba)
”Tingling 'wow' feeling.” (Borås Tidning)
”A must for anyone who enjoys immersive performing arts.” (Borås Tidning)

Trailers

Act 1

Act 2

Music video: Am I Here, by Rachael Dease

For Here not here, Maxine Doyle, internationally renowned for her large-scale, site specific creations with Punchdrunk, collaborates with artist Es Devlin whose large scale sculptural installations have been shown in museums and galleries worldwide – on theatre, opera and concert stages (Bregenz, La Scala, Beyoncé, U2, The Weeknd) as well as the London and Rio de Janeiro Olympic ceremonies. This is their first collaboration.

Here not Here is created in close collaboration with the dancers in GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and has an original score by Australian composer Rachael Dease. Costume design by Bregje van Balen and light design by in-house Joakim Brink and David Stokholm.

Act 1 - The Journey

In Act 1 the audience take an epic, labyrinthine journey through the corridors of the opera house, discovering a world of evocative installations and stumbling across dancing bodies suspended in a perpetual limbo.

Act 2 - Main Stage performance

For Act 2 on the Main Stage, the audience will witness the dancers caught in a maze of mirrors, dancing with their demons in search of the light.

Tickets may be purchased for Acts 1 and 2, or for Act 2 only.

Information about Act 1 for the full experience of Here not here

Act 1 partly takes place outdoors. You need to be able to walk and stand for about 40 minutes and be able to climb stairs (up and down) yourself. The journey includes confined spaces and deep rumbling. You’ll come close to dancers and other members of the audience.

If you buy a ticket for Act 1 with an early start time, your interval between Act 1 and 2 will be about 1 hour. (Restaurant, bar and café are open.)

Do you have accessibility needs?

Please contact us to buy tickets to our accessibility-adapted tours of Act 1. You can reach us on +46 31 13 13 00 or biljetter@opera.se

Curious about Here not Here?

Am I Here, by Rachael Dease

Few who have experienced Here not here can have missed the track Am I Here, created and performed by the prize-winning and critically-acclaimed Australian artist Rachael Dease. The track has now been released internationally for free listening – which is a first for an original song composed specifically for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.

<a href="https://rachaeldease.bandcamp.com/track/am-i-here">Am I Here by Rachael Dease</a>

Rachel writes: ”Am I Here was the last section written for Here Not Here, and funnily enough begins Part 2. Often, I will write a song for a project just because it feels like it needs to come out, not specifically for it to make the cut for final presentation. It’s just something I like to do. In all the computers, and machines, and interfaces, and programs – it’s just breath and noise. It’s human.

When songs arrive quickly, they are usually the ones that stick around. They become my favourites. Am I Here is one of those songs. I recorded a version quickly to send to Maxine [Doyle, the choreographer], and that’s still the same vocal take you hear now. It’s imperfect, it’s a little messy, but whenever I tried to rerecord it, it just didn’t sound right any more. The lyrics are mostly all Maxine’s, a text she gave us that became a constant reference point.

For me, much of Here Not Here is about human fragility and the beauty and terror of the unknown within us.

The collaboration with Maxine and Es [Devlin, the set designer] has been a really special one. There was lots of talk and reading and research, then we would see what the others were doing. Like a two-year, magical show-and-tell. They are both so creatively disciplined but open-hearted and warm people. The dance company are just incredible, and again fit into that rare disciplined and warm category. I was made to feel so welcome by everyone. Watching them when I was so close on opening night, they took my breath away over and over.”