SUPERHERO ALTER EGO
by Holly Rush Dance
https://www.hollyrush.co.uk/super-hero-alter-ego
4 Episode Digital Performance for PUSH21 at HOME Theatre, Manchester (UK) 2021.
Superhero Alter Ego takes the idea of social media and digital comic books, satirising superhero archetypes to create a surreal, escapist narrative.
Superhero Alter Ego is a Push 2021 commission from HOME, Manchester (UK).
https://homemcr.org/production/superhero-alter-ego
The series combines physical theatre and different dance practices such as clowning, contemporary dance and Waaking, which enable the two protagonists, Jest and Luci, to parody poses from comic books. The creator, Holly Rush, initially took inspiration for the commission from ‘The Watchmen’ by Alan Moore.
Creator / Editor / Jesterius: Holly Rush
Co-deviser / Luci Dreamer: Anna Spink
Words / Story / Narration: Fausta Joly
Sound Design: Hamish Rush
Music: Oliver Mills
Credit: Holly Rush. Above: stills of Anna Spink and Holly Rush from digital episodes of Superhero Alter Ego, 2020/ 2021
Holly has been researching the comic book genre and was particularly interested in the different representations of Superheroes and how they have become a new modern mythology.
The dancers (Anna Spink and Holly Rush) alongside poet (Fausta Joly) began R&D together prior to the lockdown of COVID-19 in early 2020. The team continued their practice remotely during the pandemic, experimenting with new modes of rehearsal and performance for digital picture. Superhero Alter Ego was later filmed for commission in and around the city of Manchester at the end of 2020, premiering online in 2021.
The characters Jesterious and Luci Dreamer became a collaborative, live- action element of the Julian Gray comic book exhibition ‘Stories For Us’ at The Lowry art gallery (Manchester, UK) in May 2022.
Credit: Holly Rush, stills of Anna Spink and Holly Rush from digital episodes of Superhero Alter Ego, 2020/ 2021
“In my research, Superheroes are always borne from modernity and are a response to it, they are the ones who overcome the rapid changes in the 20th-21st century, compared to other protagonist characters in modernist American literature.”
Link to full interview: https://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/superhero-alter-ego-push-festival-2021-home/
Credit: Holly Rush. Audience members have the chance to become the villain by using the Instagram Filter called Data Eater, created by Nicholas Delap.
Credit: Holly Rush, stills of Anna Spink from digital episodes of Superhero Alter Ego, 2020/ 2021
Film Credit: Holly Rush, shots of Anna Spink from digital episodes of Superhero Alter Ego, 2020/ 2021
Gallery shots from Superhero Alter Ego film rehearsals (2020-2021) and performance collaboration with Julian Gray’s exhibition ‘Stories For Us’ (2022):
