PrismOcean at Werkhalle Wiesenburg / Sunday, 9.7.2023

PrismOcean is an improvised sound-body collaborative performance by butoh-inspired dancer Lesley Suzanne Dean (US) and ambient musician Dirk Markham (UK), incorporating emotional free-dance and live experimental dronescapes.

Dean’s pursuit of yoga and struggle with chronic illness flow into the dancer’s intense style of physical theater, which expresses frustration with the limitations of her body as an instrument, turning it inside out in order to escape and transcend it. Navigating the projected geometry of the music, the movements explore among other themes the desire, attainment, and letting go of control.

The vessel for Dean’s exploration of space comes in the form of spontaneous compositions by the Scottish electronic sound artist Markham. Electro-acoustic guitar loops are sampled and processed in real-time generating other-worldly sonic sculptures. These have a transcendental quality and while being ambient in nature, also provide the pulse for the PrismOcean performance as a whole.