Fringe, Reviewed: aqua.thermal vs. The Selfie
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"The dancers relearned how to identify with the human form and with their own bodies without technology."
[ dance ]
aqua. thermal vs. The Selfie, by Katrina Atkin
Attended: Fri., Sept. 12, p.m., at HyLo Labs (closing show)
Set in a world not unlike our own, aqua.thermal vs. The Selfie tells the tale of a post-apocalyptica that inspires its inhabitants to create new, compassionate realities.
WE THINK:
As the sound of a saxophone drifted onto 3rd and New streets in Old City, Katrina Atkin, a 23-year graduate from the University of the Arts, stood in the doorway of HyLo Labs. It was her first Fringe show and she had a message.
“Connection to independence from machinery is what I wanted,” said Atkin. “But I am a product of my generation 100 percent. I promoted my show on Instagram and Facebook; this is our world.”
Atkin’s audience streamed in, updating statuses, uploading Instagram photos and drinking from a galvanized steel bin of Naragansett pounders. The six person cast sat in a circle on the bare wooden floor as the room filled with composer Kelsey Ludwig’s original soundtrack, which used recorded subway noises, sounds and dialogue. Unsure of how to connect but looking for cues, the dancers relearned how to identify with the human form and with their own bodies without technology.
“Humans are capable of so much good, and I feel my own brain being destroyed by my phone,” said Atkin. “I wanted to paint a portrait of the opposite of that.” The dancers, much like the world we live in, ended the performance still yearning to learn from each other.
