Empty Orchestra: Dance Karaoke
The hit dance show about the highs and lows of doing karaoke is coming to Waterside.
© Keown Photo
Hit dance show Empty Orchestra is coming to Waterside on Saturday 04 November as part of its 2023 UK tour, after sell-out shows in London and Yorkshire last year. Combining contemporary dance with live karaoke, Empty Orchestra is a hilarious hour of karaoke classics, beautiful choreography and gloriously out-of-tune singing.
From dance artist Lewys Holt’s company perfectly serviceable, Empty Orchestra explores the vulnerability, power and uncomfortable feelings of cringe inherent to karaoke. Featuring Holt, Luke Divall and Inari Hulkkonen, each dancer takes their turn at the mic whilst the remaining two become backing dancers, lip-syncing and encouraging each other into the spotlight.
The show received critical acclaim in 2022 with two sell-out runs at The Place and Yorkshire Dance, securing Arts Council Funding for a UK tour this autumn; perfectly serviceable has also announced that all shows on the UK tour will be BSL-interpreted, meaning audiences can see major karaoke hits explored in a unique way, through beautiful choreography and sign language.
Dancer and choreographer Lewys Holt said: “I'm interested in pop music and the way it instantly connects with people, distracts them, frees them and allows them to become more themselves, but also how it has shaped society to a degree. It has a brainwashing quality, along with its emotional liberation. What I want to do with this show is find ways of engaging with pop music in ways that are not pre-prescribed. How can we find the emotions in the margins of these songs? How can we sing between the notes to find a pleasure independent of the pleasure it tries to sell us? I think dance is the answer.
“I think audiences will enjoy the opportunity to witness a new way of dealing with these songs that they know so well. There's a real party vibe to the piece, but it's coupled with a sort of bleak, otherworldliness, which is equal parts disconcerting and intriguing. Plus - there's plenty of opportunities to sing along!”
Tickets: £15 adults, £13 concessions (plus booking fee)
Suitable for 14+
