In today’s tech-savvy society, cell phones, texting and social media often are the culprits — and are at the core of the Glue Factory Project’s latest dance-theater production, “Parallel Lives.” It opens Wednesday for a five-day run at the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side.
3 comments:
I'm really glad the Glue Factory Project is bringing attention to this phenomenon. The advent of such integrated "social" interaction into our minute-by-minute, everyday lives has created a unique disruption in the way we connect face-to-face. For example, I have run into so many situations where I know more about a person I am supposedly "just meeting" than I feel like I "should" know since information about them is so readily available online. It's not so much a product of my actively seeking information on them, as much as it is that I passively scroll over posts featuring them.
I also think dance is a really interesting medium for this kind of commentary, since it requires a kind of active presence in the moment to execute the steps. The juxtaposition of the dance and the technology will be a thought provoking combination.
Generally, I dislike the use of modern technology and social media in art because such references will date the art. However, our reliance on social media has become so deep rooted that it's reference no longer feels as ephemeral. Mixing anything as sophisticated as dance and something as run-of-the-mill as online interaction with naturally bring on interesting juxtapositions, so I love their emphasis about making a piece about something "really ordinary." With this much skill, an artist makes something ephemeral and ordinary into something extraordinary.
I LOVE THIS SOOOOO MUCH!!!! Right now I'm on this whole kick about how we are too sucked up in our phone and all the other technology that have become "necessary" in our daily lives. As humans I feel we have become too dependent on our devices and now are in some ways scared to have to have face to face conversations. I also believe that theater and dance are some of the best (if not the best) medium for presenting this idea. I say this because when something is presented on stage it tends to parallel reality allowing the audience to see this effect.
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