Dancing in the rain just got a lot more intense with these performances by dancers from Wayne McGregor | Random Dance. At regularly scheduled times, the artists emerge within the Rain Room installation in Barbican’s Curve Gallery and perform continuously changing and evolving interactions with the rain. During the performances, the musical score, composed by Max Richter, provides the dancers with inspiration.
The neatest feature of the mystical rain room is that visitors do not actually get wet. As they walk, or in this case dance, through the indoor rainfall, sensors detect their motions and the water is directed away from them in what the studio describes as a “carefully choreographed downpour that responds to your movements and presence.”
Visitors are admitted into the live space on a first-come, first-served basis, admission is free, and only five at a time are allowed into the room so that the sensory experience of the rain can be enjoyed without the rush of a crowd. During performances, visitors can walk around the space and encounter an intimate and personal dancing experience as the performers glide through the rain, completely disconnected from the surrounding audience. The soothing sounds of the water hitting the ground, combined with the smooth, fluid body movements, quickly transform the space into a peaceful and meditative experience.
If you are interested in this project, you can see a few video clips of the dramatic presentation below.
