Choreographer and dancer Georgia Tegou presents the world premiere of In the Quiet of Us at the Lilian Baylis Studio Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 November. A fluid duet synthesising dance, visual art and neuroscience, the work examines the fragility of human connection through the architecture of the brain.
The piece explores how the smallest gesture, delay or misreading can alter a relationship. Drawing inspiration from the mythical mistakes in Tristan and Isolde and Theseus, where meaning changes through misinterpretation, two performers meet in a shifting space in which connection depends on precision.
The work, a Sadler’s Wells co-commission, was created in dialogue with architect-curator Andrew Borg Wirth, and is set to a live score that combines piano and modular synth sounds by Alexandros Miaris. It draws on the Tegos Tapes, a rare archive of micro neurosurgery footage set to music, created by Tegou’s uncle, neurosurgeon Dr. Stergios Tegos in collaboration with composer Vangelis (Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner), referencing the precision and criticality of an operation.
Tegou’s work approaches ‘dance-as-design’, intertwining choreography with design practices to craft immersive visual environments. Driven by a deep curiosity about architecture, sculpture, visual arts, science and philosophy, her work explores the symbiotic relationship between dance and spatial arts, seeking to encapsulate nuances of the human condition.
She opened the Dance Umbrella International Festival 2022 and has presented works at Sadler’s Wells, the Royal Opera House, the Greek National Opera and more and has choreographed music videos for dance-pop cult favourite Róisín Murphy.
Georgia Tegou said, “I have always been fascinated by the tragedy of the error that re-orders the world. In the Quiet of Us gazes far into the celestial, and close, right to the cellular. Through the lens of the brain’s architecture, it explores the fragile nature of human connection. Looking at the quiet, intangible space between us, it asks whether our smallest acts are any less critical than those inside an operating theatre, where a single movement matters and can have a ripple effect. Fragility isn’t the opposite of connection; it’s what connection costs.
We’re excited to premiere this work at Sadler’s Wells, the intimacy of the Lilian Baylis Studio allows the audience to witness the tiniest shifts: the dependence, vulnerability and precarious labour of staying with what can be lost – the quiet, critical moments that determine whether we fall together or apart.”
Georgia Tegou’s In the Quiet of Us will be performed at the Lilian Baylis Studio Thursday 19–Saturday 21 November. Tickets start at £18 and are available through the Sadler’s Wells Ticket Office at 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com.
