Calling Sir Wayne McGregor a choreographer is like calling Stanley Kubrick a director. Correct of course, but it hardly begins to capture the totality of their auteur approach. One of the most fascinating parts of this exciting exhibition at Somerset House is the look inside McGregor’s studio, where you see glimpses into his notebooks and how he annotates his choreography like musical notations. He records and files his work in archives. One notebook shows him methodically analysing the suicide of Francis Bacon’s lover/muse George Dyer on the eve of an exhibition in Paris, and how Bacon didn’t react when told; how would you turn this moment into dance? Well, there is literally method to McGregor’s madness, the kind of madness — which in the pre-TikTok days used to be called intellectualism — that possessed Kubrick. And technology is not feared but harnessed.
Which is where we find ourselves with Infinite Bodies, an exhibition that showcases an artistic vision fulfilled through an expansive approach to collaboration and new tech to create an experience which is frequently exhilarating and rewards participation; yes, you should be prepared for a bit of a dance.
