Festival Hot Seat: Last Dance: The Wave Epoch

Last Dance: The Wave Epoch is a unique collaboration between grime DJ and producer Elijah, musician GAIKA and visual artists Haroon Mirza and Jack Jelfs. 

Alli Beddoes, Lighthouse's Artistic Director and CEO tells us more about this unique new project.

How and where will the work be staged?
We are presenting two performances at the Brighthelm Community Centre on the same day (24 May), one in the afternoon, one in the evening. The performance includes video footage, photographs, sound recordings, filmed performances, and conversations with physicists, all gathered at the collider. It will also feature a devise, which Haroon and his studio have made out of components left over from experiments. We are also really excited about two local DJ collectives Shook and Off Peak coming to do a set each.

Why should someone come and see your show?
We talk a lot about what is happening to culture and how it forms and shapes and adjusts to the things and decisions that surround us. The Wave Epoch gathers different approaches from art, music and science to take us on a journey 2000 years into the future – our audience can make their own interpretations of where that might end up. We hope it will inspire new connections and partnerships. It is also a great moment to celebrate and dance.

Where did the idea and inspiration come from?
The Wave Epoch is part of Lighthouse’s Associate Artistic Director Elijah’s Last Dance programme, a series of events that look at the changing nature of club culture. In the UK, lots of clubs are closing; half the clubs in London alone have shut in the last five years. This is having an impact on youth culture, which feeds into, and influences, our wider cultural landscape.

The Wave Epoch is inspired by the idea of what might happen to club culture in the future. But it’s also about the past, about how the ritual of gathering together and dancing is as old as humanity itself, and will continue in some form for as long as we continue to exist.

Why do you think it’s an important story to tell?
Cultural spaces are shrinking and changing, and we urgently need to value and protect them. There are no other places where music, art and ideas, both old and new, can be experienced in such a direct, immersive and communal way.

What sort of person is going to love this show?
Anyone with a curious mind that feels connected to art or music or science (or all three).

What’s going to surprise people about this show?
People who want to dance, hear new music and enjoy will do, but the extraordinary thing about this performance will encourage a deeper thinking about the importance of connecting with others.

What does Brighton Festival mean to you? 
The festival is a huge part of Brighton’s identity. It means a lot and presents inspiration, breadth and diversity, adventure and the official mark of the summer.

What are you most looking forward to in this year’s Brighton Festival programme?
It’s a brilliant programme and looking forward to lots of things. Aside from Lighthouse’s Last Dance: Re-Imagined Futures programme, my top three picks are: Lemn Sissay at ACCA, The Last Poets at Theatre Royal (remarkable even 50 years later!) and Problem In Brighton at The Old Market.Visit lighthouse.org.uk, or discover more about The Last Dance:The Wave Epoch.