Agata Siniarska offers a lesson in empathy. With escalating armed conflicts, the war in Ukraine being prime example, an acclaimed choreographer and dancer uses a solo performance to address the catastrophe of the modern world, the annihilation of ecosystems and animals, and the technologies of mass destruction: nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Nonetheless, null & void is far from mere reportage. The dancer uses her body and voice as if she were a medium. In the opening sequences, light pulses to the rhythm of explosions, illuminating black matter spread over the stage. With time, we come to realise that this dark shape is a human figure turned away from us, whose voice is what generates the sounds. The performer’s body filters the sounds of war, in a way giving it a physical form and bringing the whole into the here and now. A powerful, experience even if it is yet intimate.

null & void, premiered at the Tanz in August Festival in Berlin last year, was also one of the most notable performances at this year’s Santarcangelo Festival. Now, it arrives at the Boska Komedia / Divine Comedy Festival for its Polish debut.

Strobe lights are used during the performance.

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Photos by Dajana Lothert