​A contemporary dance journey beneath the surface of our oceans for young audiences aged 8–12.

What happens when the ocean can no longer breathe?

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Drowning takes young audiences beneath the surface and into a world of waves, currents, creatures and movement. Seven dancers transform the stage into an underwater landscape, their bodies flowing, twisting and drifting like marine life caught in the movement of the sea.

But something is changing. Plastic begins to enter this beautiful underwater world, disrupting its rhythms and threatening the creatures that call the ocean home. Through powerful movement, live music, film and striking visual imagery, Drowning explores what happens when our oceans become overwhelmed by pollution. The dancers move between moments of beauty, play and chaos, inviting audiences to imagine life from the perspective of the ocean and the creatures living within it. What might it feel like to swim through plastic? How does a tiny piece of pollution become part of a much bigger problem? And what can we do to protect the places we share with other living beings?

Rather than telling young people about marine pollution, Drowning encourages them to experience the ocean through their senses and imagination. It is a physical and visual journey that opens up questions about our relationship with nature, our impact on the planet and our ability to make a difference.

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Creative Team

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Choreography: Greta Gauhe
Dancers: Greta Gauhe, Belinda Papavasileiou, Vivian Triantafyllopoulou, Marta Polak, Irene Gimenez Montes, David Evans, Ingvild Marstein Olson
Composer: Andrew Liddell
Visual Artist: Clara Boulard

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Performance History

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Performed in February 2018 as part of Resolution Festival at The Place, London, and subsequently at Spotlights Up Festival, Camberley Theatre and The Albany, Deptford.

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Reviews

“The best dance show to see in 2018.”
The Evening Standard

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“Choreographer Greta Gauhe has harnessed an array of visual and acoustic elements in Drowning to evoke a sense of underwater marine life, from the eddies and currents of the dancers’ movement to the ripples of water on Boulard’s filmed images matching the arms of the dancers.”

“The suffocating imagery goes to the heart of marine pollution and is thus the true starting point of the work.”
Iris and Rosie

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“An eye-opening exploration of the poignant reality that our seas are dangerously infused with plastic. The dancers graced the stage with elegance, effortlessly embodying the fluidity of fish.”
Emma Boxall

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“The six dancers’ movement is fluid, lingering as if submerged, but it’s just one element of this portrait of an underwater paradise in fall.”
Carmel Smith

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“Caught up in the flow of waves, the dancers’ numbers grow gradually and the movement swells with a kind of silken complexity for a while. A group of dancers drift, lift and fluidly roll in front of two projections of watery forms, murky colours and simmering light.”
Exeunt Magazine