Kent-based AΦE’s WHIST is a unique production merging physical theatre, virtual reality, technology and visual arts

Medway-based dance company AΦE - founded by Aoi Nakamura (Japanese) and Esteban Lecoq (French) - will bring their hit show WHIST to Canterbury five years after it first premiered at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre.

Having toured to 12 countries and 30 venues across Europe and Asia, the production will return to Kent with its unique style of merging physical theatre, virtual reality, technology and visual arts

With WHIST, each individual enjoys a unique journey through a 360 film that captures their gaze and brings them into a world inspired by Freudian case studies and Japanese artist Shuji Terayama.

Aoi Nakamura says: “Our uniqueness lies in the use of technology to completely reinvent audience participation. We were the UK’s first dance company to tour internationally with VR and AR productions.

“As trailblazers in our sector, we want to rethink live performances. To help us in this process, we have partnered with high end technology brands such as Epson and The Scalable Display who we are inviting into the dance world to push its boundaries. In only five years, we have managed to gather the support of some of the most prestigious venues around the world such as Sadler’s Wells, Chaillot Theatre National de la Danse Paris & Sydney Festival.”

AΦE opened AΦE Creative Hub, its charitable arm in 2020 with its first event in 2021 being an outdoor interactive digital art programme called ALT*ASH and took place during lockdown in Ashford’s High Street, engaging 29,000 live audiences, & 139,000 online audiences.

AΦE became Associate Artists of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (ICCI)/University of Kent and are moved into a building within the ICCI at Historic Dockyard Chatham in autumn 2021. This space is home to AE’s Creative Hub, where we will produce innovative productions and deliver creative and new technology workshops to professionals and members of the local community, especially young people, alike.

Individually Aoi and Esteban have been performing over 15 years with renowned dance and immersive theatre companies such as Punchdrunk, Jasmin Vardimon Company State Theatre Kassel, Saarbruecken and Wiesbaden, and have also choreographed, directed and performed for works by other prestigious producers, including Sean Roggs’ immersive experience The Waldorf Project, a 360° film for Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (Google Arts & Culture) and short film “Kai”. They were also guest curators for an visual art exhibition and a Digital Performance Weekender for Devonshire Collective in Eastbourne in November 2017.

WHIST in Gulbenkian Arts Centre

Booking: https://bit.ly/whist-gulbenkian

When: 4th to 8th May 2022