Jefta van Dinther, Dark Field Analysis, Lilian Baylis Studio

Let’s start with a few health warnings. If you’re bothered by the idea of two naked men on stage dancing and holding a conversation about blood, Dark Field Analysis is definitely not for you. If you expect your dance performances to take on a recognisable, more or less orthodox format, this is one is not for you either.


The Dutch/Swedish dancer and choreographer Jefta van Dinther is interested in turning ‘space, sound, light and bodies into performative drugs,’ in his own words. What he means is, he seeks to create an intense emotional state in his audiences, and does so by creating striking sensorial illusions.

In Dark Field Analysis van Dinther places humans in relation to other forms of life, the two men’s conversation about blood serving as an analogy for looking into and beyond ourselves.

So, if you like to be challenged, believe that performance has a right – or duty! – to excite intense emotions in audiences, and are open to new ideas and formats, you may want to give Jefta van Dinther’s Dark Field Analysis a go.

And if you attend the first night performance, you can tell him yourself how much you loved or hated the work at a post-show talk.

Post-show talk Wed 12 Sept