More like a zombie than a phoenix, Desert Body Creep makes a case for transformation through a fantasy of decay. A pop song becomes an ear-worm and burrows through the pores of a body, opening black holes, plot holes and wormholes. Sinking slowly through a chthonic mush, it doesn’t care to be reborn, but it’s very happy to become undead. Things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl, and the next step is obviously to dance.
Desert Body Creep is a life and death cycle with the epicness of Dune, but on the scale of a gummy worm, in the style of a surfie western, a cute horror, or maybe post-internet Lovecraft, set somewhere that’s halfway to nowhere on its way from everywhere. Recasting fear and monstrosity, Desert Body Creep assembles a new form of philosophy based on sweet and tender nihilism.
Angela Goh is a Sydney-based dancer and choreographer. She is working with dance in theatres, galleries, and telepathetic spaces. Her work often deals with tropes of femininity; the supernatural; and dance as both a form and as a force. Angela’s works have been presented across Australia, as well as in Europe, the USA and South East Asia. This is the first time her works Uncanny Valley Girl and Desert Body Creep are shown in Europe.
Choreography, performance: Angela Goh
Live sound operation: Matt Cornell
Producer: Alison Halt
Originally commissioned through Next Wave’s Kickstart program for Next Wave Festival 2016
Supported by Create NSW
In collaboration with Cirko – Center for New Circus